nice

PURPOSE

     Runs a command at a different priority.

SYNOPSIS
     nice [ -increment ] command [ arguments ]


DESCRIPTION

     The nice command lets you  run the specified command at a
     lower priority.  The value of  number can range from 1 to
     19, with 19 being the lowest priority.  The default value
     of number is 10.

     If you have superuser authority,  you can run commands at
     a  higher priority  by  specifying number  as a  negative
     number, such as "--10".

EXAMPLES

     1.  To run a command at low priority:

           nice  cc  -c  *.c

         This runs  the command  "cc -c *.c" at  low priority.
         Note that this does not  run the command in the back-
         ground.  Your work station is not available for doing
         other things.
     2.  To run a low priority command in the background:

           nice  cc  -c  *.c  &

         This runs the command  "cc -c *.c" at low priority in
         the background.   Your work  station is free  so that
         you can run other commands  while cc is running.  See
         page for details  about starting background processes
         with "&".
     3.  To specify a very low priority:

           nice  -15  cc  -c  *.c  &

         This runs cc in the  background at a priority that is
         even lower than the default priority set by nice.
     4.  To specify a very high priority:

           nice  --10  wall  <<end
           System shutdown in 2 minutes!
           end

         This runs  wall at  a higher  priority than  all user
         processes.   Doing this  slows  down everything  else
         running on the system.  If  you do not have superuser
         authority when  you run  this command, then  the wall
         command runs at the normal priority.

         The "<<end" and "end" define a "Here Document," which
         uses  the  text  entered  before the  "end"  line  as
         standard input  for the  command.  For  more details,
         see "Inline Input Documents."

RELATED INFORMATION

     The following commands:  "csh" and "nohup."

     Note:   The csh  command contains  a built-in  subcommand
     named  nice.  The  command and  subcommand do  not neces-
     sarily work the same way.  For information on the subcom-
     mand, see the csh command.

     The nice  system call  in AIX Operating  System Technical
     Reference.