signal

 


 
 
 
 Standard C Library Functions                           signal(3C)
 
 
 


NAME

signal, sigset, sighold, sigrelse, sigignore, sigpause - simplified signal management for application processes

SYNOPSIS

#include <signal.h> void (*signal (int sig, void (*disp)(int)))(int); void (*sigset(int sig, void (*disp)(int)))(int); int sighold(int sig); int sigrelse(int sig); int sigignore(int sig); int sigpause(int sig);

DESCRIPTION

These functions provide simplified signal management for application processes. See signal(3HEAD) for an explanation of general signal concepts. The signal() and sigset() functions modify signal disposi- tions. The _s_i_g argument specifies the signal, which may be any signal except SIGKILL and SIGSTOP. The _d_i_s_p argument specifies the signal's disposition, which may be SIG_DFL, SIG_IGN, or the address of a signal handler. If signal() is used, _d_i_s_p is the address of a signal handler, and _s_i_g is not SIGILL, SIGTRAP, or SIGPWR, the system first sets the signal's disposition to SIG_DFL before executing the signal handler. If sigset() is used and _d_i_s_p is the address of a signal handler, the system adds _s_i_g to the calling process's signal mask before executing the signal handler; when the signal handler returns, the system restores the calling process's signal mask to its state prior to the delivery of the signal. In addition, if sigset() is used and _d_i_s_p is equal to SIG_HOLD, _s_i_g is added to the calling process's signal mask and the signal's disposition remains unchanged. The sighold() function adds _s_i_g to the calling process's signal mask. The sigrelse() function removes _s_i_g from the calling process's signal mask. The sigignore() function sets the disposition of _s_i_g to SIG_IGN. The sigpause() function removes _s_i_g from the calling process's signal mask and suspends the calling process SunOS 5.8 Last change: 27 Jun 1996 1 Standard C Library Functions signal(3C) until a signal is received. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion, signal() returns the signal's previous disposition. Otherwise, it returns SIG_ERR and sets errno to indicate the error. Upon successful completion, sigset() returns SIG_HOLD if the signal had been blocked or the signal's previous disposition if it had not been blocked. Otherwise, it returns SIG_ERR and sets errno to indicate the error. Upon successful completion, sighold(), sigrelse(), sigig- nore(), and sigpause(), return 0. Otherwise, they return -1 and set errno to indicate the error. ERRORS These functions fail if: EINTR A signal was caught during the execution sigpause(). EINVAL The value of the _s_i_g argument is not a valid signal or is equal to SIGKILL or SIGSTOP. USAGE The sighold() function used in conjunction with sigrelse() or sigpause() may be used to establish critical regions of code that require the delivery of a signal to be temporarily deferred. If signal() or sigset() is used to set SIGCHLD's disposi- tion to a signal handler, SIGCHLD will not be sent when the calling process's children are stopped or continued. If any of the above functions are used to set SIGCHLD's disposition to SIG_IGN, the calling process's child processes will not create zombie processes when they ter- minate (see exit(2)). If the calling process subsequently waits for its children, it blocks until all of its children terminate; it then returns -1 with errno set to ECHILD (see wait(2) and waitid(2)). The system guarantees that if more than one instance of the same signal is generated to a process, at least one signal will be received. It does not guarantee the reception of every generated signal.

SEE ALSO

exit(2), kill(2), pause(2), sigaction(2), sigsend(2), wait(2), waitid(2), signal(3HEAD) SunOS 5.8 Last change: 27 Jun 1996 2