getitimer(2)							System Calls Manual						      getitimer(2)

Name
       getitimer, setitimer - get or set value of interval timer

Syntax
       #include <sys/time.h>

       #define ITIMER_REAL	0    /* real time intervals */
       #define ITIMER_VIRTUAL	1    /* virtual time intervals */
       #define ITIMER_PROF	2    /* user and system virtual time */

       getitimer(which, value)
       int which;
       struct itimerval *value;

       setitimer(which, value, ovalue)
       int which;
       struct itimerval *value, *ovalue;

Description
       The  system  provides  each  process with three interval timers, defined in <sys/time.h>.  The call returns the current value for the timer
       specified in which, while the call sets the value of a timer (optionally, returning the previous value of the timer).  The upper limit  for
       time values are as follows:

	  For VAX machines, 10millisec * 0x7fffffff  (about 256 days)
	  For RISC machines, 3.906 millsec * 0x7fffffff (about 97 days)

       A timer value is defined by the itimerval structure:
       struct itimerval {
	     struct  timeval it_interval; /* timer interval */
	     struct  timeval it_value;	  /* current value */
       };

       If  it_value is nonzero, it indicates the time to the next timer expiration.  If it_interval is nonzero, it specifies a value to be used in
       reloading it_value when the timer expires.  Setting it_value to 0 disables a timer.  Setting it_interval to 0 causes a timer to be disabled
       after its next expiration (assuming it_value is nonzero).

       Time values smaller than the resolution of the system clock are rounded up to this resolution (on MIPS, 3.906 milliseconds; on VAX, 10 mil-
       liseconds).

       The ITIMER_REAL timer decrements in real time.  A SIGALRM signal is delivered when this timer expires.

       The ITIMER_VIRTUAL timer decrements in process virtual time.  It runs only when the process is executing.  A SIGVTALRM signal is  delivered
       when it expires.

       The  ITIMER_PROF  timer decrements both in process virtual time and when the system is running on behalf of the process.  It is designed to
       be used by interpreters in statistically profiling the execution of interpreted programs.  Each time the  ITIMER_PROF  timer  expires,  the
       SIGPROF	signal	is  delivered.	 Because this signal may interrupt in-progress system calls, programs using this timer must be prepared to
       restart interrupted system calls.

       Three macros for manipulating time values are defined in <sys/time.h>.  The timerclear sets a time value to zero,  timerisset  tests  if  a
       time value is nonzero, and timercmp compares two time values (beware that >= and <= do not work with this macro).

Return Values
       If  the	calls succeed, a value of 0 is returned.  If an error occurs, the value -1 is returned, and a more precise error code is placed in
       the global variable, errno.

Diagnostics
       The possible errors are:

       [EFAULT]       The value structure specified a bad address.

       [EINVAL]       A value structure specified a time that was too large to be handled.

See Also
       gettimeofday(2), sigvec(2), pause(3)

																      getitimer(2)