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NAME

       limits.h - implementation-defined constants

SYNOPSIS

       #include <limits.h>

DESCRIPTION

       Some  of the functionality described on this reference page extends the
       ISO C standard. Applications shall define the appropriate feature  test
       macro  (see  the  System  Interfaces  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       Section 2.2, The Compilation Environment) to enable the  visibility  of
       these symbols in this header.

       Many   of   the   symbols   listed   here   are   not  defined  by  the
       ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard. Such symbols are not shown as CX shaded.

       The <limits.h> header shall define various  symbolic  names.  Different
       categories of names are described below.

       The names represent various limits on resources that the implementation
       imposes on applications.

       Implementations may  choose  any  appropriate  value  for  each  limit,
       provided  it is not more restrictive than the Minimum Acceptable Values
       listed below. Symbolic constant names  beginning  with  _POSIX  may  be
       found in <unistd.h> .

       Applications  should  not  assume  any particular value for a limit. To
       achieve maximum portability, an application  should  not  require  more
       resource  than  the  Minimum  Acceptable  Value  quantity.  However, an
       application wishing to avail itself of the full amount  of  a  resource
       available  on  an  implementation  may  make  use of the value given in
       <limits.h> on that particular implementation,  by  using  the  symbolic
       names  listed  below.  It  should  be  noted, however, that many of the
       listed limits are not invariant, and at runtime, the value of the limit
       may differ from those given in this header, for the following reasons:

        * The limit is pathname-dependent.

        * The limit differs between the compile and runtime machines.

       For  these reasons, an application may use the fpathconf(), pathconf(),
       and sysconf() functions to determine the actual value  of  a  limit  at
       runtime.

       The items in the list ending in _MIN give the most negative values that
       the mathematical types are guaranteed to be  capable  of  representing.
       Numbers   of   a   more   negative  value  may  be  supported  on  some
       implementations,  as  indicated  by  the  <limits.h>  header   on   the
       implementation,   but  applications  requiring  such  numbers  are  not
       guaranteed  to  be  portable  to  all  implementations.  For   positive
       constants  ending in _MIN, this indicates the minimum acceptable value.

   Runtime Invariant Values (Possibly Indeterminate)
       A definition of one of the symbolic names in the following  list  shall
       be  omitted  from  <limits.h>  on  specific  implementations  where the
       corresponding value is equal to or greater than the stated minimum, but
       is unspecified.

       This  indetermination  might  depend  on the amount of available memory
       space on a specific instance of a specific implementation.  The  actual
       value  supported  by  a  specific  instance  shall  be  provided by the
       sysconf() function.

       {AIO_LISTIO_MAX}

              Maximum number of I/O operations  in  a  single  list  I/O  call
              supported by the implementation.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_AIO_LISTIO_MAX}

       {AIO_MAX}

              Maximum   number  of  outstanding  asynchronous  I/O  operations
              supported by the implementation.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_AIO_MAX}

       {AIO_PRIO_DELTA_MAX}

              The  maximum  amount  by  which  a  process  can  decrease   its
              asynchronous   I/O   priority  level  from  its  own  scheduling
              priority.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 0

       {ARG_MAX}
              Maximum length of  argument  to  the  exec  functions  including
              environment data.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_ARG_MAX}

       {ATEXIT_MAX}

              Maximum   number  of  functions  that  may  be  registered  with
              atexit().
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 32

       {CHILD_MAX}
              Maximum number of simultaneous processes per real user ID.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_CHILD_MAX}

       {DELAYTIMER_MAX}

              Maximum number of timer expiration overruns.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_DELAYTIMER_MAX}

       {HOST_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum length of a host name  (not  including  the  terminating
              null) as returned from the gethostname() function.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_HOST_NAME_MAX}

       {IOV_MAX}

              Maximum   number  of  iovec  structures  that  one  process  has
              available for use with readv() or writev().
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_XOPEN_IOV_MAX}

       {LOGIN_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum length of a login name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_LOGIN_NAME_MAX}

       {MQ_OPEN_MAX}

              The maximum number of open message queue descriptors  a  process
              may hold.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_MQ_OPEN_MAX}

       {MQ_PRIO_MAX}

              The  maximum  number  of  message  priorities  supported  by the
              implementation.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_MQ_PRIO_MAX}

       {OPEN_MAX}
              Maximum number of files that one process can have  open  at  any
              one time.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_OPEN_MAX}

       {PAGESIZE}
              Size in bytes of a page.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 1

       {PAGE_SIZE}

              Equivalent to {PAGESIZE}. If either {PAGESIZE} or {PAGE_SIZE} is
              defined, the other is defined with the same value.

       {PTHREAD_DESTRUCTOR_ITERATIONS}

              Maximum number of attempts made to destroy  a  thread’s  thread-
              specific data values on thread exit.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_THREAD_DESTRUCTOR_ITERATIONS}

       {PTHREAD_KEYS_MAX}

              Maximum number of data keys that can be created by a process.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_THREAD_KEYS_MAX}

       {PTHREAD_STACK_MIN}

              Minimum size in bytes of thread stack storage.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 0

       {PTHREAD_THREADS_MAX}

              Maximum number of threads that can be created per process.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_THREAD_THREADS_MAX}

       {RE_DUP_MAX}
              The  number  of  repeated  occurrences of a BRE permitted by the
              regexec()  and  regcomp()  functions  when  using  the  interval
              notation {\(m,n\}; see BREs Matching Multiple Characters .
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX}

       {RTSIG_MAX}

              Maximum  number of realtime signals reserved for application use
              in this implementation.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_RTSIG_MAX}

       {SEM_NSEMS_MAX}

              Maximum number of semaphores that a process may have.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SEM_NSEMS_MAX}

       {SEM_VALUE_MAX}

              The maximum value a semaphore may have.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SEM_VALUE_MAX}

       {SIGQUEUE_MAX}

              Maximum number of queued signals that a  process  may  send  and
              have pending at the receiver(s) at any time.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SIGQUEUE_MAX}

       {SS_REPL_MAX}

              The  maximum  number  of  replenishment  operations  that may be
              simultaneously  pending  for  a   particular   sporadic   server
              scheduler.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SS_REPL_MAX}

       {STREAM_MAX}
              The  number  of  streams  that  one process can have open at one
              time.  If defined, it has the same  value  as  {FOPEN_MAX}  (see
              <stdio.h> ).
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_STREAM_MAX}

       {SYMLOOP_MAX}
              Maximum  number of symbolic links that can be reliably traversed
              in the resolution of a pathname in the absence of a loop.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SYMLOOP_MAX}

       {TIMER_MAX}

              Maximum  number  of  timers  per  process   supported   by   the
              implementation.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TIMER_MAX}

       {TRACE_EVENT_NAME_MAX}

              Maximum length of the trace event name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TRACE_EVENT_NAME_MAX}

       {TRACE_NAME_MAX}

              Maximum  length of the trace generation version string or of the
              trace stream name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TRACE_NAME_MAX}

       {TRACE_SYS_MAX}

              Maximum number of trace streams that may simultaneously exist in
              the system.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TRACE_SYS_MAX}

       {TRACE_USER_EVENT_MAX}

              Maximum  number  of  user  trace event type identifiers that may
              simultaneously  exist  in  a  traced  process,   including   the
              predefined user trace event POSIX_TRACE_UNNAMED_USER_EVENT.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TRACE_USER_EVENT_MAX}

       {TTY_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum length of terminal device name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TTY_NAME_MAX}

       {TZNAME_MAX}
              Maximum  number  of  bytes  supported for the name of a timezone
              (not of the TZ variable).
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_TZNAME_MAX}

       Note:  The length given by {TZNAME_MAX} does not  include  the  quoting
              characters mentioned in Other Environment Variables .

   Pathname Variable Values
       The   values   in  the  following  list  may  be  constants  within  an
       implementation or may vary from one pathname to another.  For  example,
       file systems or directories may have different characteristics.

       A  definition of one of the values shall be omitted from the <limits.h>
       header on specific implementations where  the  corresponding  value  is
       equal  to  or  greater than the stated minimum, but where the value can
       vary depending on the file to which it is  applied.  The  actual  value
       supported  for  a specific pathname shall be provided by the pathconf()
       function.

       {FILESIZEBITS}
              Minimum number of bits needed to represent, as a signed  integer
              value,  the  maximum  size  of  a  regular  file  allowed in the
              specified directory.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 32

       {LINK_MAX}
              Maximum number of links to a single file.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_LINK_MAX}

       {MAX_CANON}
              Maximum number of bytes in a terminal canonical input line.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_MAX_CANON}

       {MAX_INPUT}
              Minimum number of bytes  for  which  space  is  available  in  a
              terminal  input  queue; therefore, the maximum number of bytes a
              conforming application may require to be typed as  input  before
              reading them.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_MAX_INPUT}

       {NAME_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a filename (not including terminating
              null).
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_NAME_MAX}
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_XOPEN_NAME_MAX}

       {PATH_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a pathname, including the terminating
              null character.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_PATH_MAX}
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_XOPEN_PATH_MAX}

       {PIPE_BUF}
              Maximum  number  of  bytes  that is guaranteed to be atomic when
              writing to a pipe.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_PIPE_BUF}

       {POSIX_ALLOC_SIZE_MIN}

              Minimum number of bytes of storage actually  allocated  for  any
              portion of a file.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: Not specified.

       {POSIX_REC_INCR_XFER_SIZE}

              Recommended  increment  for  file  transfer  sizes  between  the
              {POSIX_REC_MIN_XFER_SIZE} and {POSIX_REC_MAX_XFER_SIZE}  values.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: Not specified.

       {POSIX_REC_MAX_XFER_SIZE}

              Maximum recommended file transfer size.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: Not specified.

       {POSIX_REC_MIN_XFER_SIZE}

              Minimum recommended file transfer size.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: Not specified.

       {POSIX_REC_XFER_ALIGN}

              Recommended file transfer buffer alignment.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: Not specified.

       {SYMLINK_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a symbolic link.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SYMLINK_MAX}

   Runtime Increasable Values
       The  magnitude  limitations  in  the  following  list shall be fixed by
       specific implementations. An application should assume that  the  value
       supplied by <limits.h> in a specific implementation is the minimum that
       pertains whenever the application is run under that  implementation.  A
       specific  instance  of a specific implementation may increase the value
       relative to that supplied by <limits.h> for  that  implementation.  The
       actual  value supported by a specific instance shall be provided by the
       sysconf() function.

       {BC_BASE_MAX}
              Maximum obase values allowed by the bc utility.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_BC_BASE_MAX}

       {BC_DIM_MAX}
              Maximum number of elements permitted  in  an  array  by  the  bc
              utility.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_BC_DIM_MAX}

       {BC_SCALE_MAX}
              Maximum scale value allowed by the bc utility.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_BC_SCALE_MAX}

       {BC_STRING_MAX}
              Maximum  length of a string constant accepted by the bc utility.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_BC_STRING_MAX}

       {CHARCLASS_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a character class name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_CHARCLASS_NAME_MAX}

       {COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX}
              Maximum number of weights that can be assigned to  an  entry  of
              the  LC_COLLATE order keyword in the locale definition file; see
              Locale .
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX}

       {EXPR_NEST_MAX}
              Maximum  number  of  expressions  that  can  be  nested   within
              parentheses by the expr utility.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_EXPR_NEST_MAX}

       {LINE_MAX}
              Unless  otherwise  noted,  the  maximum  length,  in bytes, of a
              utility’s input line (either standard input  or  another  file),
              when  the  utility  is  described  as processing text files. The
              length includes room for the trailing <newline>.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_LINE_MAX}

       {NGROUPS_MAX}
              Maximum number  of  simultaneous  supplementary  group  IDs  per
              process.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_NGROUPS_MAX}

       {RE_DUP_MAX}
              Maximum  number  of repeated occurrences of a regular expression
              permitted when using the interval notation \{m,n\}; see  Regular
              Expressions .
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX}

   Maximum Values
       The  symbolic  constants  in  the  following  list  shall be defined in
       <limits.h> with the values shown. These are symbolic names for the most
       restrictive  value for certain features on an implementation supporting
       the Timers option. A conforming implementation shall provide values  no
       larger  than  these values. A conforming application must not require a
       smaller value for correct operation.

       {_POSIX_CLOCKRES_MIN}

              The resolution of the CLOCK_REALTIME clock, in nanoseconds.
              Value: 20 000 000

       If the Monotonic Clock option  is  supported,  the  resolution  of  the
       CLOCK_MONOTONIC    clock,    in    nanoseconds,   is   represented   by
       {_POSIX_CLOCKRES_MIN}.

   Minimum Values
       The symbolic constants in  the  following  list  shall  be  defined  in
       <limits.h> with the values shown. These are symbolic names for the most
       restrictive value for certain features on an implementation  conforming
       to  this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. Related symbolic constants are
       defined elsewhere in this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 which  reflect
       the  actual  implementation  and  which  need not be as restrictive.  A
       conforming implementation shall provide values at least this  large.  A
       strictly  conforming  application  must  not require a larger value for
       correct operation.

       {_POSIX_AIO_LISTIO_MAX}

              The number of I/O operations that can be specified in a list I/O
              call.
              Value: 2

       {_POSIX_AIO_MAX}

              The number of outstanding asynchronous I/O operations.
              Value: 1

       {_POSIX_ARG_MAX}
              Maximum  length  of  argument  to  the  exec functions including
              environment data.
              Value: 4 096

       {_POSIX_CHILD_MAX}
              Maximum number of simultaneous processes per real user ID.
              Value: 25

       {_POSIX_DELAYTIMER_MAX}

              The number of timer expiration overruns.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX_HOST_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum length of a host name  (not  including  the  terminating
              null) as returned from the gethostname() function.
              Value: 255

       {_POSIX_LINK_MAX}
              Maximum number of links to a single file.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_LOGIN_NAME_MAX}
              The  size  of  the  storage required for a login name, in bytes,
              including the terminating null.
              Value: 9

       {_POSIX_MAX_CANON}
              Maximum number of bytes in a terminal canonical input queue.
              Value: 255

       {_POSIX_MAX_INPUT}
              Maximum number of bytes allowed in a terminal input queue.
              Value: 255

       {_POSIX_MQ_OPEN_MAX}

              The number of message queues that  can  be  open  for  a  single
              process.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_MQ_PRIO_MAX}

              The  maximum  number  of  message  priorities  supported  by the
              implementation.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a filename (not including terminating
              null).
              Value: 14

       {_POSIX_NGROUPS_MAX}
              Maximum  number  of  simultaneous  supplementary  group  IDs per
              process.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_OPEN_MAX}
              Maximum number of files that one process can have  open  at  any
              one time.
              Value: 20

       {_POSIX_PATH_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a pathname.
              Value: 256

       {_POSIX_PIPE_BUF}
              Maximum  number  of  bytes  that is guaranteed to be atomic when
              writing to a pipe.
              Value: 512

       {_POSIX_RE_DUP_MAX}
              The number of repeated occurrences of a  BRE  permitted  by  the
              regexec()  and  regcomp()  functions  when  using  the  interval
              notation {\(m,n\}; see BREs Matching Multiple Characters .
              Value: 255

       {_POSIX_RTSIG_MAX}

              The number of realtime signal numbers reserved  for  application
              use.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_SEM_NSEMS_MAX}

              The number of semaphores that a process may have.
              Value: 256

       {_POSIX_SEM_VALUE_MAX}

              The maximum value a semaphore may have.
              Value: 32 767

       {_POSIX_SIGQUEUE_MAX}

              The  number  of  queued signals that a process may send and have
              pending at the receiver(s) at any time.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX_SSIZE_MAX}
              The value that can be stored in an object of type ssize_t.
              Value: 32 767

       {_POSIX_STREAM_MAX}
              The number of streams that one process  can  have  open  at  one
              time.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_SS_REPL_MAX}

              The   number   of   replenishment   operations   that   may   be
              simultaneously  pending  for  a   particular   sporadic   server
              scheduler.
              Value: 4

       {_POSIX_SYMLINK_MAX}
              The number of bytes in a symbolic link.
              Value: 255

       {_POSIX_SYMLOOP_MAX}
              The  number  of  symbolic  links  that  can  be traversed in the
              resolution of a pathname in the absence of a loop.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_THREAD_DESTRUCTOR_ITERATIONS}

              The number of  attempts  made  to  destroy  a  thread’s  thread-
              specific data values on thread exit.
              Value: 4

       {_POSIX_THREAD_KEYS_MAX}

              The number of data keys per process.
              Value: 128

       {_POSIX_THREAD_THREADS_MAX}

              The number of threads per process.
              Value: 64

       {_POSIX_TIMER_MAX}

              The per-process number of timers.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX_TRACE_EVENT_NAME_MAX}

              The length in bytes of a trace event name.
              Value: 30

       {_POSIX_TRACE_NAME_MAX}

              The  length  in  bytes of a trace generation version string or a
              trace stream name.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_TRACE_SYS_MAX}

              The number of trace streams that may simultaneously exist in the
              system.
              Value: 8

       {_POSIX_TRACE_USER_EVENT_MAX}

              The  number  of  user  trace  event  type  identifiers  that may
              simultaneously  exist  in  a  traced  process,   including   the
              predefined user trace event POSIX_TRACE_UNNAMED_USER_EVENT.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX_TTY_NAME_MAX}
              The  size of the storage required for a terminal device name, in
              bytes, including the terminating null.
              Value: 9

       {_POSIX_TZNAME_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes supported for the  name  of  a  timezone
              (not of the TZ variable).
              Value: 6

       Note:
              The  length  given  by  {_POSIX_TZNAME_MAX} does not include the
              quoting characters mentioned in Other Environment Variables .

       {_POSIX2_BC_BASE_MAX}
              Maximum obase values allowed by the bc utility.
              Value: 99

       {_POSIX2_BC_DIM_MAX}
              Maximum number of elements permitted  in  an  array  by  the  bc
              utility.
              Value: 2 048

       {_POSIX2_BC_SCALE_MAX}
              Maximum scale value allowed by the bc utility.
              Value: 99

       {_POSIX2_BC_STRING_MAX}
              Maximum  length of a string constant accepted by the bc utility.
              Value: 1 000

       {_POSIX2_CHARCLASS_NAME_MAX}
              Maximum number of bytes in a character class name.
              Value: 14

       {_POSIX2_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX}
              Maximum number of weights that can be assigned to  an  entry  of
              the  LC_COLLATE order keyword in the locale definition file; see
              Locale .
              Value: 2

       {_POSIX2_EXPR_NEST_MAX}
              Maximum  number  of  expressions  that  can  be  nested   within
              parentheses by the expr utility.
              Value: 32

       {_POSIX2_LINE_MAX}
              Unless  otherwise  noted,  the  maximum  length,  in bytes, of a
              utility’s input line (either standard input  or  another  file),
              when  the  utility  is  described  as processing text files. The
              length includes room for the trailing <newline>.
              Value: 2 048

       {_POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX
              Maximum number of repeated occurrences of a  regular  expression
              permitted  when using the interval notation \{m,n\}; see Regular
              Expressions .
              Value: 255

       {_XOPEN_IOV_MAX}

              Maximum  number  of  iovec  structures  that  one  process   has
              available for use with readv() or writev().
              Value: 16

       {_XOPEN_NAME_MAX}

              Maximum  number  of  bytes  in  a  filename  (not  including the
              terminating null).
              Value: 255

       {_XOPEN_PATH_MAX}

              Maximum number of bytes in a pathname.
              Value: 1024

   Numerical Limits
       The values in the following lists shall be defined  in  <limits.h>  and
       are   constant  expressions  suitable  for  use  in  #if  preprocessing
       directives. Moreover,  except  for  {CHAR_BIT},  {DBL_DIG},  {DBL_MAX},
       {FLT_DIG},  {FLT_MAX},  {LONG_BIT},  {WORD_BIT},  and {MB_LEN_MAX}, the
       symbolic names are defined as expressions of the correct type.

       If the value of an object of type char is treated as a  signed  integer
       when used in an expression, the value of {CHAR_MIN} is the same as that
       of {SCHAR_MIN} and the value of {CHAR_MAX}  is  the  same  as  that  of
       {SCHAR_MAX}.  Otherwise,  the value of {CHAR_MIN} is 0 and the value of
       {CHAR_MAX} is the same as that of {UCHAR_MAX}.

       {CHAR_BIT}
              Number of bits in a type char.
              Value: 8

       {CHAR_MAX}
              Maximum value of type char.
              Value: {UCHAR_MAX} or {SCHAR_MAX}

       {CHAR_MIN}
              Minimum value of type char.
              Value: {SCHAR_MIN} or 0

       {INT_MAX}
              Maximum value of an int.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 2 147 483 647

       {LONG_BIT}

              Number of bits in a long.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 32

       {LONG_MAX}
              Maximum value of a long.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: +2 147 483 647

       {MB_LEN_MAX}
              Maximum number of  bytes  in  a  character,  for  any  supported
              locale.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 1

       {SCHAR_MAX}
              Maximum value of type signed char.
              Value: +127

       {SHRT_MAX}
              Maximum value of type short.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: +32 767

       {SSIZE_MAX}
              Maximum value of an object of type ssize_t.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX_SSIZE_MAX}

       {UCHAR_MAX}
              Maximum value of type unsigned char.
              Value: 255

       {UINT_MAX}
              Maximum value of type unsigned.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 4 294 967 295

       {ULONG_MAX}
              Maximum value of type unsigned long.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 4 294 967 295

       {USHRT_MAX}
              Maximum value for a type unsigned short.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 65 535

       {WORD_BIT}

              Number of bits in a word or type int.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 16

       {INT_MIN}
              Minimum value of type int.
              Maximum Acceptable Value: -2 147 483 647

       {LONG_MIN}
              Minimum value of type long.
              Maximum Acceptable Value: -2 147 483 647

       {SCHAR_MIN}
              Minimum value of type signed char.
              Value: -128

       {SHRT_MIN}
              Minimum value of type short.
              Maximum Acceptable Value: -32 767

       {LLONG_MIN}
              Minimum value of type long long.
              Maximum Acceptable Value: -9223372036854775807

       {LLONG_MAX}
              Maximum value of type long long.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: +9223372036854775807

       {ULLONG_MAX}
              Maximum value of type unsigned long long.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 18446744073709551615

   Other Invariant Values
       The  following  constants  shall  be  defined on all implementations in
       <limits.h>:

       {CHARCLASS_NAME_MAX}

              Maximum number of bytes in a character class name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 14

       {NL_ARGMAX}

              Maximum value of digit in calls  to  the  printf()  and  scanf()
              functions.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 9

       {NL_LANGMAX}

              Maximum number of bytes in a LANG name.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 14

       {NL_MSGMAX}

              Maximum message number.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 32 767

       {NL_NMAX}

              Maximum number of bytes in an N-to-1 collation mapping.
              Minimum   Acceptable  Value:  No  guaranteed  value  across  all
              conforming implementations.

       {NL_SETMAX}

              Maximum set number.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 255

       {NL_TEXTMAX}

              Maximum number of bytes in a message string.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: {_POSIX2_LINE_MAX}

       {NZERO}

              Default process priority.
              Minimum Acceptable Value: 20

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

RATIONALE

       A request was made to reduce the value of  {_POSIX_LINK_MAX}  from  the
       value  of  8  specified  for  it in the POSIX.1-1990 standard to 2. The
       standard developers decided to deny this request for several reasons:

        * They wanted to avoid making any changes to the standard  that  could
          break  conforming  applications, and the requested change could have
          that effect.

        * The use of multiple hard links to a file cannot always  be  replaced
          with   use  of  symbolic  links.  Symbolic  links  are  semantically
          different from hard links in that they  associate  a  pathname  with
          another  pathname  rather  than  a  pathname  with  a file. This has
          implications for access control, file permanence, and  transparency.

        * The  original  standard  developers  had  considered  the  issue  of
          allowing for implementations that did not in  general  support  hard
          links, and decided that this would reduce consensus on the standard.

       Systems that support historical versions of the development  option  of
       the  ISO POSIX-2  standard  retain  the name {_POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX} as an
       alias for {_POSIX_RE_DUP_MAX}.

       {PATH_MAX}
              IEEE PASC Interpretation 1003.1 #15 addressed the  inconsistency
              in  the  standard  with  the  definition  of  pathname  and  the
              description  of  {PATH_MAX},  allowing  application  writers  to
              allocate   either   {PATH_MAX}   or   {PATH_MAX}+1   bytes.  The
              inconsistency has been removed by correction to  the  {PATH_MAX}
              definition  to  include  the  null character.  With this change,
              applications that previously  allocated  {PATH_MAX}  bytes  will
              continue to succeed.

       {SYMLINK_MAX}
              This  symbol refers to space for data that is stored in the file
              system, as opposed to {PATH_MAX} which is the length of  a  name
              that   can   be   passed   to   a  function.  In  some  existing
              implementations, the filenames pointed to by symbolic links  are
              stored  in  the  inodes  of  the  links, so it is important that
              {SYMLINK_MAX} not be constrained to be as large as {PATH_MAX}.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       The System  Interfaces  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,  fpathconf(),
       pathconf(), sysconf()

COPYRIGHT

       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by  the  Institute  of
       Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .