EXIT(2)                     BSD Programmer's Manual                    EXIT(2)

NAME
     exit - terminate the calling process

SYNOPSIS
     #include <unistd.h>

     void
     exit(int status)

DESCRIPTION
     The exit() function terminates a process with the following conse-
     quences:

     o   All of the descriptors open in the calling process are closed.  This
         may entail delays, for example, waiting for output to drain; a pro-
         cess in this state may not be killed, as it is already dying.

     o   If the parent process of the calling process has an outstanding wait
         call or catches the SIGCHLD signal, it is notified of the calling
         process's termination and the status is set as defined by wait(2).

     o   The parent process-ID of all of the calling process's existing child
         processes are set to 1; the initialization process (see the DEFINI-
         TIONS section of intro(2))  inherits each of these processes.

     o   If the termination of the process causes any process group to become
         orphaned (usually because the parents of all members of the group
         have now exited; see ``orphaned process group'' in intro(2)),  and if
         any member of the orphaned group is stopped, the SIGHUP signal and
         the SIGCONT signal are sent to all members of the newly-orphaned pro-
         cess group.

     o   If the process is a controlling process (see intro(2)),  the SIGHUP
         signal is sent to the foreground process group of the controlling
         terminal, and all current access to the controlling terminal is re-
         voked.

     Most C programs call the library routine exit(3),  which flushes buffers,
     closes streams, unlinks temporary files, etc., before calling exit().

RETURN VALUE
     exit() can never return.

SEE ALSO
     fork(2),  sigaction(2),  wait(2),  exit(3)

STANDARDS
     The exit function is defined by IEEE Std1003.1-1990 (``POSIX'').

4th Berkeley Distribution       March 26, 1993                               1