---
name: "acl_to_text"
section: "3"
platform: "macos"
package: "Libc"
version: "1752.120.2"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/acl_to_text"
---

# acl\_to\_text(3)

convert an ACL to text

## NAME

**acl\_to\_text** – convert an ACL to text

## LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

## SYNOPSIS

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

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

*char* *\**\

**acl\_to\_text**(*acl\_t acl*, *ssize\_t \*len\_p*);

## DESCRIPTION

The **acl\_to\_text**() function translates the ACL pointed to by argument *acl* into a NULL terminated character string.  If the pointer *len\_p* is not NULL, then the function shall return the length of the string (not including the NULL terminator) in the location pointed to by *len\_p*. The format of the text string returned by **acl\_to\_text**() for an ACL of type ACL\_TYPE\_EXTENDED differs from that specified by the POSIX.1e standard, and this function cannot translate between formats.

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(3)](/acl_free/3.md) with the *(void\*)char* as an argument.

## RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, the function shall return a pointer to the long text form of an ACL.  Otherwise, a value of *(char\*)NULL* shall be returned and *errno* shall be set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

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

- \[EINVAL\]

  Argument *acl* does not point to a valid ACL.

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

- \[ENOMEM\]

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

## SEE ALSO

[acl(3)](/acl/3.md), [acl\_free(3)](/acl_free/3.md), [acl\_from\_text(3)](/acl_from_text/3.md), [posix1e(3)](/posix1e/3.md)

## STANDARDS

POSIX.1e is described in IEEE POSIX.1e draft 17.

## AUTHORS

Michael Smith Robert N M Watson