ACL\_TO\_ANY\_TEXT(3) Library Functions Manual ACL\_TO\_ANY\_TEXT(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

`acl_to_any_text` — convert an ACL to text

# [LIBRARY](#LIBRARY)

Linux Access Control Lists library (libacl, -lacl).

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

`#include <sys/types.h>`  
`#include <acl/libacl.h>`

`char *`  
`acl_to_any_text`(`acl_t acl`, `const char *prefix`, `char separator`, `int options`);

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

The [`acl_to_any_text`](#acl_to_any_text)() function translates the ACL pointed to by the argument `acl` into a `NULL` terminated character string. This character string is composed of the ACL entries contained in `acl`, in the entry text format described on [acl(5)](/man/os/acl/acl.5). Entries are separated from each other by the `separator` character. If the argument `prefix` is not `(const char *)NULL`, each entry is prefixed by this character string.

If the argument `options` is `0`, ACL entries are converted using the entry tag type keywords `user`, `group`, `mask`, and `other`. User IDs and group IDs of ACL entries that contain such qualifiers are converted to their corresponding names; if an identifier has no corresponding name, a decimal number string is produced. The ACL text representation contains no additional comments. A bitwise combinations of the following `options` can be used to modify the result:

TEXT\_ABBREVIATE

Instead of the full tag type keywords, single letter abbreviations are used. The abbreviation for `user` is `u`, the abbreviation for `group` is `g`, the abbreviation for `mask` is `m`, and the abbreviation for `other` is `o`.

TEXT\_NUMERIC\_IDS

User IDs and group IDs are included as decimal numbers instead of names.

TEXT\_SOME\_EFFECTIVE

A comment containing the effective permissions of the ACL entry is included after ACL entries that contain permissions which are ineffective because they are masked by an ACL\_MASK entry. The ACL entry and the comment are separated by a tab character.

TEXT\_ALL\_EFFECTIVE

A comment containing the effective permissions of the ACL entry is included after all ACL entries that are affected by an ACL\_MASK entry. The comment is included even if the permissions contained in the ACL entry equal the effective permissions. The ACL entry and the comment are separated by a tab character.

TEXT\_SMART\_INDENT

This option is used in combination with the TEXT\_SOME\_EFFECTIVE or TEXT\_ALL\_EFFECTIVE option. The number of tab characters inserted between the ACL entry and the comment is increased so that the comment is aligned to the fourth tab stop position. A tab width of 8 characters is assumed.

The ACL referred to by `acl` is not changed.

This function allocates any memory necessary to contain the string and returns a pointer to the string. The caller should free any releasable memory, when the new string is no longer required, by calling [`acl_free`](#acl_free)() with the `(void*)char` returned by `acl_to_any_text`() as an argument.

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

On success, this function returns a pointer to the text representation of the ACL. On error, a value of `(char *)NULL` is returned, and `errno` is set appropriately.

# [ERRORS](#ERRORS)

If any of the following conditions occur, the `acl_to_any_text`() function returns a value of `(char *)NULL` and sets `errno` to the corresponding value:

\[[`EINVAL`](#EINVAL)]

The argument `acl` is not a valid pointer to an ACL.

The ACL referenced by `acl` contains one or more improperly formed ACL entries, or for some other reason cannot be translated into the text form of an ACL.

\[[`ENOMEM`](#ENOMEM)]

The character string to be returned requires more memory than is allowed by the hardware or system-imposed memory management constraints.

# [STANDARDS](#STANDARDS)

This is a non-portable, Linux specific extension to the ACL manipulation functions defined in IEEE Std 1003.1e draft 17 (“POSIX.1e”, abandoned).

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[acl\_from\_text(3)](/man/os/acl/acl_from_text.3), [acl\_to\_text(3)](/man/os/acl/acl_to_text.3), [acl\_free(3)](/man/os/acl/acl_free.3), [acl(5)](/man/os/acl/acl.5)

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Written by Andreas Gruenbacher ⟨andreas.gruenbacher@gmail.com⟩.

March 25, 2002 Linux ACL

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Document: acl_to_any_text(3) from acl 2.4.0-r3 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/git/acl.git