Quick ?s
Cheat Sheets
Man Pages
The Lynx
Software
SIGACTION(2)		   Linux Programmers Manual		 SIGACTION(2)



NAME
       sigaction - examine and change a signal action

SYNOPSIS
       #include 

       int sigaction(int signum, const struct sigaction *act,
		     struct sigaction *oldact);

DESCRIPTION
       The  sigaction()  system  call  is used to change the action taken by a
       process on receipt of a specific signal.

       signum specifies the signal and can be any valid signal except  SIGKILL
       and SIGSTOP.

       If  act is non-null, the new action for signal signum is installed from
       act.  If oldact is non-null, the previous action is saved in oldact.

       The sigaction structure is defined as something like:

	   struct sigaction {
	       void	(*sa_handler)(int);
	       void	(*sa_sigaction)(int, siginfo_t *, void *);
	       sigset_t   sa_mask;
	       int	  sa_flags;
	       void	(*sa_restorer)(void);
	   };

       On some architectures a union  is  involved:  do  not  assign  to  both
       sa_handler and sa_sigaction.

       The sa_restorer element is obsolete and should not be used.  POSIX does
       not specify a sa_restorer element.

       sa_handler specifies the action to be associated with signum and may be
       SIG_DFL	for  the  default  action, SIG_IGN to ignore this signal, or a
       pointer to a signal handling function.  This function receives the sig
       nal number as its only argument.

       If  SA_SIGINFO  is specified in sa_flags, then sa_sigaction (instead of
       sa_handler) specifies the signal-handling function  for	signum.   This
       function receives the signal number as its first argument, a pointer to
       a siginfo_t as its second argument and a pointer to a ucontext_t  (cast
       to void *) as its third argument.

       sa_mask	gives  a mask of signals which should be blocked during execu
       tion of the signal handler.  In addition, the  signal  which  triggered
       the handler will be blocked, unless the SA_NODEFER flag is used.

       sa_flags specifies a set of flags which modify the behavior of the sig
       nal.  It is formed by the bitwise OR of zero or more of the following:

	   SA_NOCLDSTOP
		  If signum is SIGCHLD, do not receive notification when child
		  processes  stop  (i.e.,  when  they  receive one of SIGSTOP,
		  SIGTSTP, SIGTTIN or SIGTTOU) or resume (i.e.,  they  receive
		  SIGCONT)  (see  wait(2)).  This flag is only meaningful when
		  establishing a handler for SIGCHLD.

	   SA_NOCLDWAIT (Since Linux 2.6)
		  If signum is SIGCHLD, do not transform children into zombies
		  when	they  terminate.   See	also waitpid(2).  This flag is
		  only meaningful when establishing a handler for SIGCHLD,  or
		  when setting that signals disposition to SIG_DFL.

		  If  the SA_NOCLDWAIT flag is set when establishing a handler
		  for SIGCHLD, POSIX.1 leaves it unspecified whether a SIGCHLD
		  signal  is  generated  when  a child process terminates.  On
		  Linux, a SIGCHLD signal is generated in this case;  on  some
		  other implementations, it is not.

	   SA_NODEFER
		  Do  not  prevent  the signal from being received from within
		  its own signal handler.  This flag is only  meaningful  when
		  establishing	a  signal  handler.  SA_NOMASK is an obsolete,
		  non-standard synonym for this flag.

	   SA_ONSTACK
		  Call the signal handler on an alternate  signal  stack  pro
		  vided  by  sigaltstack(2).   If  an  alternate  stack is not
		  available, the default stack will be	used.	This  flag  is
		  only meaningful when establishing a signal handler.

	   SA_RESETHAND
		  Restore the signal action to the default state once the sig
		  nal handler has been called.	This flag is  only  meaningful
		  when	establishing a signal handler.	SA_ONESHOT is an obso
		  lete, non-standard synonym for this flag.

	   SA_RESTART
		  Provide behavior compatible with  BSD  signal  semantics  by
		  making  certain  system  calls  restartable  across signals.
		  This flag is only meaningful when establishing a signal han
		  dler.   See  signal(7)  for  a  discussion  of  system  call
		  restarting.

	   SA_SIGINFO (since Linux 2.2)
		  The signal handler takes 3  arguments,  not  one.   In  this
		  case,  sa_sigaction  should  be  set	instead of sa_handler.
		  This flag is only meaningful when establishing a signal han
		  dler.

       The  siginfo_t  argument to sa_sigaction is a struct with the following
       elements:

	   siginfo_t {
	       int	si_signo;    /* Signal number */
	       int	si_errno;    /* An errno value */
	       int	si_code;     /* Signal code */
	       int	si_trapno;   /* Trap number that caused
					hardware-generated signal
					(unused on most architectures) */
	       pid_t	si_pid;      /* Sending process ID */
	       uid_t	si_uid;      /* Real user ID of sending process */
	       int	si_status;   /* Exit value or signal */
	       clock_t	si_utime;    /* User time consumed */
	       clock_t	si_stime;    /* System time consumed */
	       sigval_t si_value;    /* Signal value */
	       int	si_int;      /* POSIX.1b signal */
	       void    *si_ptr;      /* POSIX.1b signal */
	       int	si_overrun;  /* Timer overrun count; POSIX.1b timers */
	       int	si_timerid;  /* Timer ID; POSIX.1b timers */
	       void    *si_addr;     /* Memory location which caused fault */
	       int	si_band;     /* Band event */
	       int	si_fd;	     /* File descriptor */
	   }

       si_signo, si_errno and si_code are defined for all signals.   (si_errno
       is  generally unused on Linux.)	The rest of the struct may be a union,
       so that one should only read the fields that  are  meaningful  for  the
       given signal:

       * POSIX.1b signals and SIGCHLD fill in si_pid and si_uid.

       * POSIX.1b  timers (since Linux 2.6) fill in si_overrun and si_timerid.
	 The si_timerid field is an internal ID used by the kernel to identify
	 the  timer; it is not the same as the timer ID returned by timer_cre
	 ate(3).

       * SIGCHLD fills in si_status, si_utime and si_stime.

       * si_int and si_ptr are specified by the sender of the POSIX.1b signal.
	 See sigqueue(2) for more details.

       * SIGILL,  SIGFPE, SIGSEGV, and SIGBUS fill in si_addr with the address
	 of the fault.	SIGPOLL fills in si_band and si_fd.

       si_code is a value (not a bit mask)  indicating	why  this  signal  was
       sent.   The  following  list  shows  the  values which can be placed in
       si_code for any signal, along with reason that the  signal  was	gener
       ated.

	   SI_USER	  kill(2) or raise(3)

	   SI_KERNEL	  Sent by the kernel.

	   SI_QUEUE	  sigqueue(2)

	   SI_TIMER	  POSIX timer expired

	   SI_MESGQ	  POSIX  message  queue  state	changed  (since  Linux
			  2.6.6); see mq_notify(3)

	   SI_ASYNCIO	  AIO completed

	   SI_SIGIO	  queued SIGIO

	   SI_TKILL	  tkill(2) or tgkill(2) (since Linux 2.4.19)

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGILL signal:

	   ILL_ILLOPC	  illegal opcode

	   ILL_ILLOPN	  illegal operand

	   ILL_ILLADR	  illegal addressing mode

	   ILL_ILLTRP	  illegal trap

	   ILL_PRVOPC	  privileged opcode

	   ILL_PRVREG	  privileged register

	   ILL_COPROC	  coprocessor error

	   ILL_BADSTK	  internal stack error

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGFPE signal:

	   FPE_INTDIV	  integer divide by zero

	   FPE_INTOVF	  integer overflow

	   FPE_FLTDIV	  floating-point divide by zero

	   FPE_FLTOVF	  floating-point overflow

	   FPE_FLTUND	  floating-point underflow

	   FPE_FLTRES	  floating-point inexact result

	   FPE_FLTINV	  floating-point invalid operation

	   FPE_FLTSUB	  subscript out of range

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGSEGV signal:

	   SEGV_MAPERR	  address not mapped to object

	   SEGV_ACCERR	  invalid permissions for mapped object

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGBUS signal:

	   BUS_ADRALN	  invalid address alignment

	   BUS_ADRERR	  nonexistent physical address

	   BUS_OBJERR	  object-specific hardware error

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGTRAP signal:

	   TRAP_BRKPT	  process breakpoint

	   TRAP_TRACE	  process trace trap

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGCHLD signal:

	   CLD_EXITED	  child has exited

	   CLD_KILLED	  child was killed

	   CLD_DUMPED	  child terminated abnormally

	   CLD_TRAPPED	  traced child has trapped

	   CLD_STOPPED	  child has stopped

	   CLD_CONTINUED  stopped child has continued (since Linux 2.6.9)

       The following values can be placed in si_code for a SIGPOLL signal:

	   POLL_IN	  data input available

	   POLL_OUT	  output buffers available

	   POLL_MSG	  input message available

	   POLL_ERR	  i/o error

	   POLL_PRI	  high priority input available

	   POLL_HUP	  device disconnected

RETURN VALUE
       sigaction() returns 0 on success and -1 on error.

ERRORS
       EFAULT act or oldact points to memory which is not a valid part of  the
	      process address space.

       EINVAL An invalid signal was specified.	This will also be generated if
	      an attempt is made to change the action for SIGKILL or  SIGSTOP,
	      which cannot be caught or ignored.

CONFORMING TO
       POSIX.1-2001, SVr4.

NOTES
       According  to  POSIX,  the  behavior of a process is undefined after it
       ignores a SIGFPE, SIGILL, or SIGSEGV signal that was not  generated  by
       kill(2)	or  raise(3).	Integer division by zero has undefined result.
       On some architectures it will generate a SIGFPE signal.	(Also dividing
       the  most  negative  integer by -1 may generate SIGFPE.)  Ignoring this
       signal might lead to an endless loop.

       POSIX.1-1990 disallowed setting the  action  for  SIGCHLD  to  SIG_IGN.
       POSIX.1-2001  allows  this possibility, so that ignoring SIGCHLD can be
       used to prevent the creation of zombies (see  wait(2)).	 Nevertheless,
       the  historical BSD and System V behaviors for ignoring SIGCHLD differ,
       so that the only completely portable method of ensuring that terminated
       children  do not become zombies is to catch the SIGCHLD signal and per
       form a wait(2) or similar.

       POSIX.1-1990 only specified SA_NOCLDSTOP.  POSIX.1-2001 added SA_NOCLD
       WAIT,  SA_RESETHAND,  SA_NODEFER,  and SA_SIGINFO.  Use of these latter
       values in sa_flags may be less portable in  applications  intended  for
       older Unix implementations.

       The  SA_RESETHAND  flag	is  compatible	with the SVr4 flag of the same
       name.

       The SA_NODEFER flag is compatible with the SVr4 flag of the  same  name
       under  kernels 1.3.9 and newer.	On older kernels the Linux implementa
       tion allowed the receipt of  any  signal,  not  just  the  one  we  are
       installing (effectively overriding any sa_mask settings).

       sigaction() can be called with a null second argument to query the cur
       rent signal handler.  It can also be used to check whether a given sig
       nal is valid for the current machine by calling it with null second and
       third arguments.

       It is not possible to block SIGKILL or SIGSTOP (by specifying  them  in
       sa_mask).  Attempts to do so are silently ignored.

       See sigsetops(3) for details on manipulating signal sets.

       See signal(7) for a list of the async-signal-safe functions that can be
       safely called inside from inside a signal handler.

   Undocumented
       Before the introduction of SA_SIGINFO it was also possible to get  some
       additional  information, namely by using a sa_handler with second argu
       ment of type struct sigcontext.	See the relevant  kernel  sources  for
       details.  This use is obsolete now.

BUGS
       In  kernels  up	to  and  including  2.6.13,  specifying  SA_NODEFER in
       sa_flags prevents not only the delivered signal from being masked  dur
       ing  execution  of  the	handler,  but  also  the  signals specified in
       sa_mask.  This bug was fixed in kernel 2.6.14.

EXAMPLE
       See mprotect(2).

SEE ALSO
       kill(1), kill(2), killpg(2), pause(2), sigaltstack(2), signal(2),  sig
       nalfd(2),  sigpending(2),  sigprocmask(2),  sigqueue(2), sigsuspend(2),
       wait(2), raise(3), siginterrupt(3), sigsetops(3),  sigvec(3),  core(5),
       signal(7)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 3.05 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, and information about reporting  bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2008-07-08			  SIGACTION(2)




Yals.net is © 1999-2009 Crescendo Communications
Sharing tech info on the web for more than a decade!
This page was generated Thu Apr 30 17:05:24 2009