sigvec(3) (BSD Compatibility Package) sigvec(3)
NAME
sigvec - software signal facilities
SYNOPSIS
/usr/ucb/cc [flag ...] file ... -lucb
#include <signal.h>
int sigvec(sig, vec, ovec)
int sig;
struct sigvec *vec, *ovec;
DESCRIPTION
The system defines a set of signals that may be delivered to a pro-
cess. Signal delivery resembles the occurrence of a hardware inter-
rupt: the signal is blocked from further occurrence, the current pro-
cess context is saved, and a new one is built. A process may specify a
handler to which a signal is delivered, or specify that a signal is to
be blocked or ignored. A process may also specify that a default
action is to be taken by the system when a signal occurs. Normally,
signal handlers execute on the current stack of the process. This may
be changed, on a per-handler basis, so that signals are taken on a
special signal stack.
All signals have the same priority. Signal routines execute with the
signal that caused their invocation to be blocked, but other signals
may yet occur. A global signal mask defines the set of signals
currently blocked from delivery to a process. The signal mask for a
process is initialized from that of its parent (normally 0). It may be
changed with a sigblock or sigsetmask call, or when a signal is
delivered to the process.
A process may also specify a set of flags for a signal that affect the
delivery of that signal.
When a signal condition arises for a process, the signal is added to a
set of signals pending for the process. If the signal is not currently
blocked by the process then it is delivered to the process. When a
signal is delivered, the current state of the process is saved, a new
signal mask is calculated (as described below), and the signal handler
is invoked. The call to the handler is arranged so that if the signal
handling routine returns normally the process will resume execution in
the context from before the signal's delivery. If the process wishes
to resume in a different context, then it must arrange to restore the
previous context itself.
When a signal is delivered to a process a new signal mask is installed
for the duration of the process' signal handler (or until a sigblock
or sigsetmask call is made). This mask is formed by taking the current
signal mask, adding the signal to be delivered, and using the logical
OR in the signal mask associated with the handler to be invoked.
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The action to be taken when the signal is delivered is specified by a
sigvec structure, which includes the following members:
void (*svhandler)(); /* signal handler */
int svmask; /* signal mask to apply */
int svflags; /* see signal options */
#define SVONSTACK /* take signal on signal stack */
#define SVINTERRUPT /* do not restart system on signal return */
#define SVRESETHAND /* reset handler to SIGDFL when signal taken */
If the SVONSTACK bit is set in the flags for that signal, the system
will deliver the signal to the process on the signal stack specified
with sigstack, rather than delivering the signal on the current stack.
If vec is not a NULL pointer, sigvec assigns the handler specified by
svhandler, the mask specified by svmask, and the flags specified by
svflags to the specified signal. If vec is a NULL pointer, sigvec
does not change the handler, mask, or flags for the specified signal.
The mask specified in vec is not allowed to block SIGKILL, SIGSTOP, or
SIGCONT. The system enforces this restriction silently.
If ovec is not a NULL pointer, the handler, mask, and flags in effect
for the signal before the call to sigvec are returned to the user. A
call to sigvec with vec a NULL pointer and ovec not a NULL pointer can
be used to determine the handling information currently in effect for
a signal without changing that information.
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The following is a list of all signals with names as in the include
file /usr/include/signal.h:
SIGHUP Hangup
SIGINT Interrupt
SIGQUIT * Quit
SIGILL * Illegal instruction
SIGTRAP * Trace trap
SIGABRT * Abort (generated by abort(3C) routine)
SIGEMT * Emulator trap
SIGFPE * Arithmetic exception
SIGKILL Kill (cannot be caught, blocked, or ignored)
SIGBUS * Bus error
SIGSEGV * Segmentation violation
SIGSYS * Bad argument to system call
SIGPIPE Write on a pipe or other socket with no one to read it
SIGALRM Alarm clock
SIGTERM Software termination signal
SIGURG - Urgent condition present on socket
SIGSTOP + Stop (cannot be caught, blocked, or ignored)
SIGTSTP + Stop signal generated from keyboard
SIGCONT - Continue after stop (cannot be blocked)
SIGCHLD - Child status has changed
SIGTTIN + Background read attempted from control terminal
SIGTTOU + Background write attempted to control terminal
SIGIO - I/O is possible on a descriptor [see fcntl(2)]
SIGXCPU CPU time limit exceeded [see setrlimit(2)]
SIGXFSZ File size limit exceeded [see setrlimit(2)]
S GVTALRM Virtual time alarm [see setitimer(3C)]
SIGPROF Profiling timer alarm [see setitimer(3C)]
SIGWINCH - Window changed [see termio(7)]
SIGUSR1 User-defined signal 1
SIGUSR2 User-defined signal 2
The starred signals ("*") in the list above cause a core image if not
caught or ignored.
Once a signal handler is installed, it remains installed until another
sigvec call is made, or an execve is performed, unless the
SVRESETHAND bit is set in the flags for that signal. In that case,
the value of the handler for the caught signal will be set to SIGDFL
before entering the signal-catching function, unless the signal is
SIGILL, SIGPWR, or SIGTRAP. Also, if this bit is set, the bit for that
signal in the signal mask will not be set; unless the signal mask
associated with that signal blocks that signal, further occurrences of
that signal will not be blocked. The SVRESETHAND flag is not avail-
able in BSD 4.2, hence it should not be used if backward compatibility
is needed.
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The default action for a signal may be reinstated by setting the
signal's handler to SIGDFL; this default is termination except for
signals marked with "-" or "+". Signals marked with "-" are discarded
if the action is SIGDFL; signals marked with "+" cause the process to
stop. If the process is terminated, a core image will be made in the
current working directory of the receiving process if the signal is
one for which an asterisk appears in the above list.
If the handler for that signal is SIGIGN, the signal is subsequently
ignored, and pending instances of the signal are discarded.
If a caught signal occurs during certain system calls, the call is
normally restarted. The call can be forced to terminate prematurely
with an EINTR error return by setting the SVINTERRUPT bit in the
flags for that signal. The SVINTERRUPT flag is not available in BSD
4.2, hence it should not be used if backward compatibility is needed.
The affected system calls are read or write on a slow device (such as
a terminal or pipe or other socket, but not a file) and during a wait.
After a fork or vfork the child inherits all signals, the signal mask,
the signal stack, and the restart/interrupt and reset-signal-handler
flags.
The execve call resets all caught signals to default action and resets
all signals to be caught on the user stack. Ignored signals remain
ignored; the signal mask remains the same; signals that interrupt sys-
tem calls continue to do so.
The accuracy of addr is machine dependent. For example, certain
machines may supply an address that is on the same page as the address
that caused the fault. If an appropriate addr cannot be computed it
will be set to SIGNOADDR.
RETURN VALUE
A 0 value indicates that the call succeeded. A -1 return value indi-
cates that an error occurred and errno is set to indicate the reason.
DIAGNOSTICS
sigvec will fail and no new signal handler will be installed if one of
the following occurs:
EFAULT Either vec or ovec is not a NULL pointer and points to memory
that is not a valid part of the process address space.
EINVAL sig is not a valid signal number, or, SIGKILL, or SIGSTOP.
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NOTES
SIGPOLL is a synonym for SIGIO. A SIGIO will be issued when a file
descriptor corresponding to a STREAMS [see introprm2(2)] file has a
selectable event pending. Unless that descriptor has been put into
asynchronous mode [see fcntl(2)], a process must specifically request
that this signal be sent using the ISETSIG ioctl call [see
streamio(7)]. Otherwise, the process will never receive SIGPOLL.
The handler routine can be declared like this:
void handler(sig, code, scp, addr)
int sig, code;
struct sigcontext *scp;
char *addr;
In this example:
sig Signal number.
code Parameter of certain signals that provides additional detail.
scp Pointer to the sigcontext structure (defined in signal.h), used
to restore the context from before the signal and addr is addi-
tional address information.
The signals SIGKILL, SIGSTOP, and SIGCONT cannot be ignored.
SEE ALSO
exec(2), fcntl(2), fork(2), getrlimit(2), ioctl(2), kill(2),
ptrace(2), read(2), signal(2), umask(2), wait(2), write(2),
sigblock(3), sigpause(3), sigsetmask(3), sigstack(3), wait3(3),
getitimer(3C), setjmp(3C), setjmp(3C-ucb), signal(3-ucb), signal(5),
streamio(7), termio(7).
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