The part of a filesystem that stores information about a particular file or directory. The information includes the owner, group, permissions, file size, links, time the file was last used or modified, and location of disk blocks storing data in the file.
On filesystems with access control lists (ACLs), the inodes also store ACL information.
Performs low-level input- and output-control operations and retrieves device status information (see the ioctl(2) man page). Typical operations include buffer manipulation and query of device mode or status.
ioctl is used to control a wide variety of devices, including terminals, printers, and disk drives, as well as system interfaces such as STREAMS on DYNIX/ptx.ioctl manipulates data structures that are specific to the hardware or software being controlled, so the exact usage varies. The general terminal interface is described under termio(7). The STREAMS interface (DYNIX/ptx only) is described under streamio(7).