---
name: "acl_from_text"
section: "3"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/acl_from_text"
---

# acl\_from\_text(3)

create an ACL from text

## NAME

**acl\_from\_text** – create an ACL from text

## LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<sys/types.h\>**

**#include \<sys/acl.h\>**

*acl\_t*\

**acl\_from\_text**(*const char \*buf\_p*);

## DESCRIPTION

The **acl\_from\_text**() function converts the text form of an ACL referred to by *buf\_p* into the internal working structure for ACLs, appropriate for applying to files or manipulating.

This function may cause memory to be allocated. The caller should free any releasable memory, when the new ACL is no longer required, by calling [acl\_free(3)](/acl_free/3.md) with the *(void* *\*)acl\_t* as an argument.

## IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

FreeBSD's support for POSIX.1e interfaces and features is still under development at this time.

## RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, the function shall return a pointer to the internal representation of the ACL in working storage. Otherwise, a value of *(acl\_t)NULL* shall be returned, and *errno* shall be set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

If any of the following conditions occur, the **acl\_from\_text**() function shall return a value of *(acl\_t)NULL* and set *errno* to the corresponding value:

- \[EINVAL\]

  Argument *buf\_p* cannot be translated into an ACL.

- \[ENOMEM\]

  The ACL working storage requires more memory than is allowed by the hardware or system-imposed memory management constraints.

## SEE ALSO

[acl(3)](/acl/3.md), [acl\_free(3)](/acl_free/3.md), [acl\_get(3)](/acl_get/3.md), [acl\_to\_text(3)](/acl_to_text/3.md), [posix1e(3)](/posix1e/3.md)

## STANDARDS

POSIX.1e is described in IEEE POSIX.1e draft 17. Discussion of the draft continues on the cross-platform POSIX.1e implementation mailing list. To join this list, see the FreeBSD POSIX.1e implementation page for more information.

## HISTORY

POSIX.1e support was introduced in FreeBSD 4.0, and development continues.

## AUTHORS

Robert N M Watson

## BUGS

The **acl\_from\_text**() and **acl\_to\_text**() functions rely on the [getpwent(3)](/getpwent/3.md) library calls to manage username and uid mapping, as well as the [getgrent(3)](/getgrent/3.md) library calls to manage groupname and gid mapping. These calls are not thread safe, and so transitively, neither are **acl\_from\_text**() and **acl\_to\_text**(). These functions may also interfere with stateful calls associated with the **getpwent**() and **getgrent**() calls.