Understanding fd_set in unix sys/select.h

Question

I am not really fluent in C but I have experience in Java, C#, Python, Rust etc. I am currently trying to wrap fd_set in Rust but I have absolutely no idea how to read this code.

I am only interested in this part:

typedef struct
  {
    /* XPG4.2 requires this member name.  Otherwise avoid the name
       from the global namespace.  */
#ifdef __USE_XOPEN
    __fd_mask fds_bits[__FD_SETSIZE / __NFDBITS];
# define __FDS_BITS(set) ((set)->fds_bits)
#else
    __fd_mask __fds_bits[__FD_SETSIZE / __NFDBITS];
# define __FDS_BITS(set) ((set)->__fds_bits)
#endif
  } fd_set;

So far I understood that __fd_mask is just a long int. __NFDBITS just gives me the size of a long int and multiplies it by 8.

But I have no idea what this is doing #define FD_SETSIZE __FD_SETSIZE and there for I don't know what this is doing _fd_mask __fds_bits[__FD_SETSIZE / __NFDBITS]; For me FD_SETSIZE has no value at all. And I have absolutely no idea what # define __FDS_BITS(set) ((set)->__fds_bits) is doing.

I really would like to see how this code would look in java or c# etc

Full header file:

/* `fd_set' type and related macros, and `select'/`pselect' declarations.
   Copyright (C) 1996-2003, 2009, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   This file is part of the GNU C Library.

   The GNU C Library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
   modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
   License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
   version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

   The GNU C Library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
   Lesser General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
   License along with the GNU C Library; if not, see
   <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  */

/*  POSIX 1003.1g: 6.2 Select from File Descriptor Sets <sys/select.h>  */

#ifndef _SYS_SELECT_H
#define _SYS_SELECT_H   1

#include <features.h>

/* Get definition of needed basic types.  */
#include <bits/types.h>

/* Get __FD_* definitions.  */
#include <bits/select.h>

/* Get __sigset_t.  */
#include <bits/sigset.h>

#ifndef __sigset_t_defined
# define __sigset_t_defined
typedef __sigset_t sigset_t;
#endif

/* Get definition of timer specification structures.  */
#define __need_time_t
#define __need_timespec
#include <time.h>
#define __need_timeval
#include <bits/time.h>

#ifndef __suseconds_t_defined
typedef __suseconds_t suseconds_t;
# define __suseconds_t_defined
#endif


/* The fd_set member is required to be an array of longs.  */
typedef long int __fd_mask;

/* Some versions of <linux/posix_types.h> define this macros.  */
#undef  __NFDBITS
/* It's easier to assume 8-bit bytes than to get CHAR_BIT.  */
#define __NFDBITS   (8 * (int) sizeof (__fd_mask))
#define __FD_ELT(d) ((d) / __NFDBITS)
#define __FD_MASK(d)    ((__fd_mask) 1 << ((d) % __NFDBITS))

/* fd_set for select and pselect.  */
typedef struct
  {
    /* XPG4.2 requires this member name.  Otherwise avoid the name
       from the global namespace.  */
#ifdef __USE_XOPEN
    __fd_mask fds_bits[__FD_SETSIZE / __NFDBITS];
# define __FDS_BITS(set) ((set)->fds_bits)
#else
    __fd_mask __fds_bits[__FD_SETSIZE / __NFDBITS];
# define __FDS_BITS(set) ((set)->__fds_bits)
#endif
  } fd_set;

/* Maximum number of file descriptors in `fd_set'.  */
#define FD_SETSIZE      __FD_SETSIZE

#ifdef __USE_MISC
/* Sometimes the fd_set member is assumed to have this type.  */
typedef __fd_mask fd_mask;

/* Number of bits per word of `fd_set' (some code assumes this is 32).  */
# define NFDBITS        __NFDBITS
#endif


/* Access macros for `fd_set'.  */
#define FD_SET(fd, fdsetp)  __FD_SET (fd, fdsetp)
#define FD_CLR(fd, fdsetp)  __FD_CLR (fd, fdsetp)
#define FD_ISSET(fd, fdsetp)    __FD_ISSET (fd, fdsetp)
#define FD_ZERO(fdsetp)     __FD_ZERO (fdsetp)


__BEGIN_DECLS

/* Check the first NFDS descriptors each in READFDS (if not NULL) for read
   readiness, in WRITEFDS (if not NULL) for write readiness, and in EXCEPTFDS
   (if not NULL) for exceptional conditions.  If TIMEOUT is not NULL, time out
   after waiting the interval specified therein.  Returns the number of ready
   descriptors, or -1 for errors.

   This function is a cancellation point and therefore not marked with
   __THROW.  */
extern int select (int __nfds, fd_set *__restrict __readfds,
           fd_set *__restrict __writefds,
           fd_set *__restrict __exceptfds,
           struct timeval *__restrict __timeout);

#ifdef __USE_XOPEN2K
/* Same as above only that the TIMEOUT value is given with higher
   resolution and a sigmask which is been set temporarily.  This version
   should be used.

   This function is a cancellation point and therefore not marked with
   __THROW.  */
extern int pselect (int __nfds, fd_set *__restrict __readfds,
            fd_set *__restrict __writefds,
            fd_set *__restrict __exceptfds,
            const struct timespec *__restrict __timeout,
            const __sigset_t *__restrict __sigmask);
#endif


/* Define some inlines helping to catch common problems.  */
#if __USE_FORTIFY_LEVEL > 0 && defined __GNUC__
# include <bits/select2.h>
#endif

__END_DECLS

#endif /* sys/select.h */

Answer 1

fd_set is used to represent file descriptor set. For example, I need select() to work on 1024 file descriptors, but a long has only 8 bytes, so that's 64 (8 * 8) bits, so naturally fd_set should be represented as an array of long.

 typedef struct
 {
     long fds_bits[1024 / 64];
 } fd_set;

Note that this is just an example to demonstrate, but you get the idea, compare this with the real fd_set, and you'll see.