sunos man page for vfork

vfork(2)							   System Calls 							  vfork(2)

NAME
       vfork - spawn new process in a virtual memory efficient way

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       pid_t vfork(void);

DESCRIPTION
       The vfork() function creates a new process without fully copying the address space of the old process. This function is useful in instances
       where the purpose of a fork(2) operation is to create a new system context for an execve() operation (see exec(2)).

       Unlike with the fork() function, the child process borrows the parent's memory and thread of control until a call to execve()  or  an  exit
       (either abnormally or by a call to _exit() (see exit(2)). Any modification made during this time to any part of memory in the child process
       is reflected in the parent process on return from vfork(). The parent process is suspended while the child is using its resources.

       In a multithreaded application,	vfork() borrows only the thread of control that called vfork() in the parent; that is, the child  contains
       only  one  thread.  The	use  of  vfork()  in multithreaded applications, however, is unsafe due to race conditons that can cause the child
       process to become deadlocked and consequently block both the child and parent process from execution indefinitely.

       The vfork() function can normally be used the same way as fork(). The procedure that called vfork(), however, should not return while  run-
       ning  in  the  child's  context,  since the eventual return from vfork() in the parent would be to a stack frame that no longer exists. The
       _exit() function should be used in favor of exit(3C) if unable to perform an execve() operation, since exit()  will  invoke  all  functions
       registered  by  atexit(3C) and will flush and close standard I/O channels, thereby corrupting the parent process's standard I/O data struc-
       tures. Care must be taken in the child process not to modify any global or local data that affects the behavior of the  parent  process	on
       return from vfork(), unless such an effect is intentional.

       The  vfork()  function  is  deprecated. Its sole legitimate use as a prelude to an immediate call to a function from the exec family can be
       achieved safely by posix_spawn(3C) or posix_spawnp(3C).

RETURN VALUES
       Upon successful completion, vfork() returns  0 to the child process and returns the process ID of the child process to the parent  process.
       Otherwise, -1 is returned to the parent process, no child process is created, and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       The vfork() function will fail if:

       EAGAIN	       The system-imposed limit on the total number of processes under execution (either system-quality or by a single user) would
		       be exceeded. This limit is determined when the system is generated.

       ENOMEM	       There is insufficient swap space for the new process.

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |Obsolete			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |MT-Level		     |Unsafe			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO
       exec(2), exit(2), fork(2), ioctl(2), atexit(3C), exit(3C), posix_spawn(3C),  posix_spawnp(3C),  signal.h(3HEAD),  wait(3C),  attributes(5),
       standards(5)

NOTES
       To  avoid  a possible deadlock situation, processes that are children in the middle of a vfork() are never sent SIGTTOU or SIGTTIN signals;
       rather, output or ioctls are allowed and input attempts result in an EOF indication.

       To forstall parent memory corruption due to race conditions with signal handling, vfork() treats signal handlers in the	child  process	in
       the  same  manner  as  the exec(2) functions: signals set to be caught by the parent process are set to the default action (SIG_DFL) in the
       child process (see signal.h(3HEAD)).  Any attempt to set a signal handler in the child before execve() to anything other  than  SIG_DFL	or
       SIG_IGN is disallowed and results in setting the handler to SIG_DFL.

       On  some  systems,  the implementation of vfork() causes the parent to inherit register values from the child. This can create problems for
       certain optimizing compilers if <unistd.h> is not included in the source calling vfork().

SunOS 5.10							    8 Nov 2004								  vfork(2)