wait(1) UNIX System V(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.
SEE ALSO
sh(1).
NOTES
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.)
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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