wait(1)                    (Essential Utilities)                    wait(1)


   NAME
         wait - await completion of process

   SYNOPSIS
         wait [ n ]

   DESCRIPTION
         Wait for your background process whose process id is n and report its
         termination status.  If n is omitted, all your shell's currently
         active background processes are waited for and the return code will
         be zero.

         The shell itself executes wait, without creating a new process.

   EXAMPLE
               unmask 22

         sets file-create mode mask such that at file creation, the write bits
         will be zeroed out for group and other users, regardless of mode
         specification in create.

   SEE ALSO
         sh(1).

   CAVEAT
         If you get the error message cannot fork, too many processes, try
         using the wait command to clean up your background processes.  If
         this doesn't help, the system process table is probably full or you
         have too many active foreground processes.  (There is a limit to the
         number of process ids associated with your login, and to the number
         the system can keep track of.)

   BUGS
         Not all the processes of a 3- or more-stage pipeline are children of
         the shell, and thus cannot be waited for.

         If n is not an active process id, all your shell's currently active
         background processes are waited for and the return code will be zero.















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