To create a UNIX named pipe, use the mknod command on the command line or the mknod() system call from a C program. The two techniques produce the same results. The examples in this chapter use the command-line technique.
Once you create a named pipe, its characteristics are similar to an ordinary file. For example, it is located in a directory, has a pathname, and exists until you delete it.
The mknod command has more than one form. This is the syntax for the form that creates a named pipe:
Syntax
mknod named-pipe-identifier p
The named-pipe-identifier is the pathname of the named pipe you want to create.
For example, to create a named pipe called mypipe in the current directory, type the following command:
mknod mypipe p
The following C function shows how to use the mknod() system call to create a named pipe:
int mkfifo(path) /* make FIFO */
char *path;
{
return(mknod(path, S_IFIFO | 0666, 0));
}
For more information on mknod or mknod(), see your UNIX system documentation.
