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changeset: 76673:5c801899cd6d branch: 3.2 parent: 76670:06046a6943a7 user: Ned Deily nad@acm.org date: Mon Apr 30 11:14:02 2012 -0700 files: Doc/library/os.rst description: Issue #10433: Document unique behavior of 'os.getgroups' on Mac OS X. diff -r 06046a6943a7 -r 5c801899cd6d Doc/library/os.rst --- a/Doc/library/os.rst Mon Apr 30 19:10:28 2012 +0300 +++ b/Doc/library/os.rst Mon Apr 30 11:14:02 2012 -0700 @@ -227,6 +227,20 @@ Availability: Unix. + .. note:: On Mac OS X, :func:`getgroups` behavior differs somewhat from + other Unix platforms. If the Python interpreter was built with a + deployment target of :const:`10.5` or earlier, :func:`getgroups` returns + the list of effective group ids associated with the current user process; + this list is limited to a system-defined number of entries, typically 16, + and may be modified by calls to :func:`setgroups` if suitably privileged. + If built with a deployment target greater than :const:`10.5`, + :func:`getgroups` returns the current group access list for the user + associated with the effective user id of the process; the group access + list may change over the lifetime of the process, it is not affected by + calls to :func:`setgroups`, and its length is not limited to 16. The + deployment target value, :const:`MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET`, can be + obtained with :func:`sysconfig.get_config_var`. + .. function:: initgroups(username, gid) @@ -389,6 +403,10 @@ Availability: Unix. + .. note:: On Mac OS X, the length of *groups* may not exceed the + system-defined maximum number of effective group ids, typically 16. + See the documentation for :func:`getgroups` for cases where it may not + return the same group list set by calling setgroups(). .. function:: setpgrp() /nad@acm.org