getitimer(2) [freebsd man page]
GETITIMER(2) BSD System Calls Manual GETITIMER(2) NAME
getitimer, setitimer -- get/set value of interval timer LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc) SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/time.h> #define ITIMER_REAL 0 #define ITIMER_VIRTUAL 1 #define ITIMER_PROF 2 int getitimer(int which, struct itimerval *value); int setitimer(int which, const struct itimerval *value, struct itimerval *ovalue); DESCRIPTION
The system provides each process with three interval timers, defined in <sys/time.h>. The getitimer() system call returns the current value for the timer specified in which in the structure at value. The setitimer() system call sets a timer to the specified value (returning the previous value of the timer if ovalue is not a null pointer). 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 non-zero, it indicates the time to the next timer expiration. If it_interval is non-zero, it specifies a value to be used in reloading it_value when the timer expires. Setting it_value to 0 disables a timer, regardless of the value of it_interval. Setting it_interval to 0 causes a timer to be disabled after its next expiration (assuming it_value is non-zero). Time values smaller than the resolution of the system clock are rounded up to this resolution (typically 10 milliseconds). 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. The maximum number of seconds allowed for it_interval and it_value in setitimer() is 100000000. NOTES
Three macros for manipulating time values are defined in <sys/time.h>. The timerclear() macro sets a time value to zero, timerisset() tests if a time value is non-zero, and timercmp() compares two time values. RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the value 0 is returned; otherwise the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS
The getitimer() and setitimer() system calls will fail if: [EFAULT] The value argument specified a bad address. [EINVAL] The value argument specified a time that was too large to be handled. SEE ALSO
gettimeofday(2), select(2), sigaction(2), clocks(7) HISTORY
The getitimer() system call appeared in 4.2BSD. BSD
May 16, 1995 BSD
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GETITIMER(2) System Calls Manual GETITIMER(2) NAME
getitimer, setitimer - get/set value of interval timer SYNOPSIS
#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 getitimer call returns the current value for the timer specified in which in the structure at value. The setitimer call sets a timer to the specified value (returning the previous value of the timer if ovalue is nonzero). 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 non-zero, it indicates the time to the next timer expiration. If it_interval is non-zero, 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 dis- abled after its next expiration (assuming it_value is non-zero). Time values smaller than the resolution of the system clock are rounded up to this resolution (on the VAX, 10 milliseconds). 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. NOTES
Three macros for manipulating time values are defined in <sys/time.h>. Timerclear sets a time value to zero, timerisset tests if a time value is non-zero, and timercmp compares two time values (beware that >= and <= do not work with this macro). NOTES (PDP-11) On the PDP-11, setitimer rounds timer values up to seconds resolution. (This saves some space and computation in the overburdened PDP-11 kernel.) RETURN VALUE
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. ERRORS
The possible errors are: [EFAULT] The value parameter specified a bad address. [EINVAL] A value parameter specified a time was too large to be handled. SEE ALSO
sigvec(2), gettimeofday(2) 4.2 Berkeley Distribution August 26, 1985 GETITIMER(2)