tcsendbreak(3) Library Functions Manual tcsendbreak(3)

tcsendbreak - send a continuous stream of zero-valued bits

Standard C library (libc-lc)

#include <termios.h>
int tcsendbreak(int fd, int duration);

tcsendbreak() transmits a continuous stream of zero-valued bits for a specific duration, if the terminal is using asynchronous serial data transmission.

If duration is zero, it transmits zero-valued bits for at least 0.25 seconds, and not more than 0.5 seconds.

If duration is not zero, it sends zero-valued bits for some implementation-defined length of time.

If the terminal is not using asynchronous serial data transmission, tcsendbreak() returns without taking any action.

0
on success.
-1
on failure and set errno to indicate the error.

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

Interface Attribute Value
tcsendbreak () Thread safety MT-Safe

The effect of a nonzero duration with tcsendbreak() varies. SunOS specifies a break of duration * N seconds, where N is at least 0.25, and not more than 0.5. Linux, AIX, DU, Tru64 send a break of duration milliseconds. FreeBSD and NetBSD and HP-UX and MacOS ignore the value of duration. Under Solaris and UnixWare, tcsendbreak() with nonzero duration behaves like tcdrain(3).

POSIX.1-2008.

POSIX.1-2001.

tcdrain(3), tcflush(3), tcflow(3), termios(7)

2026-07-02 Linux man-pages 6.19