sigaction(3) Library Functions Manual sigaction(3)Name
sigaction - software signal facilities (POSIX)
Syntax
#include <signal.h>
struct sigaction {
void (*sa_handler)();
sigset_t sa_mask;
int sa_flags;
};
int sigaction(sig, vec, ovec)
int sig;
struct sigaction *vec, *ovec;
Description
The sigaction call is the POSIX equivalent to the system call. This call behaves as described on the reference page with the following mod-
ifications:
o The signal mask is manipulated using the functions.
o A process can suppress the generation of the SIGCHLD when a child stops by setting the SA_NOCLDSTOP bit in sa_flags.
o The SV_INTERRUPT flag is always set by the system when using in POSIX mode. The flag is set so that interrupted system calls will fail
with the EINTR error instead of getting restarted.
Return Values
A 0 return value indicated that the call succeeded. A -1 return value indicates an error occurred and errno is set to indicated the rea-
son.
Diagnostics
The system call fails and a new signal handler is not installed if one of the following occurs:
[EFAULT] Either vec or ovec points to memory which is not a valid part of the process address space.
[EINVAL] Sig is not a valid signal number.
[EINVAL] An attempt is made to ignore or supply a handler for SIGKILL or SIGSTOP.
See Alsosigvec(2), sigsetops(3), sigprocmask(3), sigsuspend(3), sigpending(2), setjmp(3), siginterrupt(3), tty(4)sigaction(3)
Check Out this Related Man Page
SIGVEC(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SIGVEC(3)NAME
sigvec, sigblock, sigsetmask, siggetmask, sigmask - BSD signal API
SYNOPSIS
#include <signal.h>
int sigvec(int sig, struct sigvec *vec, struct sigvec *ovec);
int sigmask(int signum);
int sigblock(int mask);
int sigsetmask(int mask);
int siggetmask(void);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
All functions shown above: _BSD_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
These functions are provided in glibc as a compatibility interface for programs that make use of the historical BSD signal API. This API
is obsolete: new applications should use the POSIX signal API (sigaction(2), sigprocmask(2), etc.).
The sigvec() function sets and/or gets the disposition of the signal sig (like the POSIX sigaction(2)). If vec is not NULL, it points to a
sigvec structure that defines the new disposition for sig. If ovec is not NULL, it points to a sigvec structure that is used to return the
previous disposition of sig. To obtain the current disposition of sig without changing it, specify NULL for vec, and a non-NULL pointer
for ovec.
The dispositions for SIGKILL and SIGSTOP cannot be changed.
The sigvec structure has the following form:
struct sigvec {
void (*sv_handler)(int); /* Signal disposition */
int sv_mask; /* Signals to be blocked in handler */
int sv_flags; /* Flags */
};
The sv_handler field specifies the disposition of the signal, and is either: the address of a signal handler function; SIG_DFL, meaning the
default disposition applies for the signal; or SIG_IGN, meaning that the signal is ignored.
If sv_handler specifies the address of a signal handler, then sv_mask specifies a mask of signals that are to be blocked while the handler
is executing. In addition, the signal for which the handler is invoked is also blocked. Attempts to block SIGKILL or SIGSTOP are silently
ignored.
If sv_handler specifies the address of a signal handler, then the sv_flags field specifies flags controlling what happens when the handler
is called. This field may contain zero or more of the following flags:
SV_INTERRUPT
If the signal handler interrupts a blocking system call, then upon return from the handler the system call will not be restarted:
instead it will fail with the error EINTR. If this flag is not specified, then system calls are restarted by default.
SV_RESETHAND
Reset the disposition of the signal to the default before calling the signal handler. If this flag is not specified, then the han-
dler remains established until explicitly removed by a later call to sigvec() or until the process performs an execve(2).
SV_ONSTACK
Handle the signal on the alternate signal stack (historically established under BSD using the obsolete sigstack() function; the
POSIX replacement is sigaltstack(2)).
The sigmask() function constructs and returns a "signal mask" for signum. For example, we can initialize the vec.sv_mask field given to
sigvec() using code such as the following:
vec.sv_mask = sigmask(SIGQUIT) | sigpause(SIGABRT);
/* Block SIGQUIT and SIGABRT during
handler execution */
The sigblock() function adds the signals in mask to the process's signal mask (like POSIX sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK)), and returns the
process's previous signal mask. Attempts to block SIGKILL or SIGSTOP are silently ignored.
The sigsetmask() function sets the process's signal mask to the value given in mask (like POSIX sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK)), and returns the
process's previous signal mask.
The siggetmask() function returns the process's current signal mask. This call is equivalent to sigblock(0).
RETURN VALUE
The sigvec() function returns 0 on success; on error, it returns -1 and sets errno to indicate the error.
The sigblock() and sigsetmask() functions return the previous signal mask.
The sigmask() function returns the signal mask for signum.
ERRORS
See the ERRORS under sigaction(2) and sigprocmask(2).
CONFORMING TO
All of these functions were in 4.3BSD, except siggetmask(), whose origin is unclear. These functions are obsolete: do not use them in new
programs.
NOTES
On 4.3BSD, the signal() function provided reliable semantics (as when calling sigvec() with vec.sv_mask equal to 0). On System V, signal()
provides unreliable semantics. POSIX.1-2001 leaves these aspects of signal() unspecified. See signal(2) for further details.
In order to wait for a signal, BSD and System V both provided a function named sigpause(3), but this function has a different argument on
the two systems. See sigpause(3) for details.
SEE ALSO kill(2), pause(2), sigaction(2), signal(2), sigprocmask(2), raise(3), sigpause(3), sigset(3), signal(7)COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.53 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 2012-09-06 SIGVEC(3)