bsd_signal (3)

Leading comments

Copyright (c) 2007 Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>

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(The comments found at the beginning of the groff file "man3/bsd_signal.3".)

NAME

bsd_signal - signal handling with BSD semantics

SYNOPSIS

#define _XOPEN_SOURCE /* See feature_test_macros(7) */
#include <signal.h>

typedef void (*sighandler_t)(int);

sighandler_t bsd_signal(int signum, sighandler_t handler);

DESCRIPTION

The bsd_signal() function takes the same arguments, and performs the same task, as signal(2).
The difference between the two is that bsd_signal() is guaranteed to provide reliable signal semantics, that is: a) the disposition of the signal is not reset to the default when the handler is invoked; b) delivery of further instances of the signal is blocked while the signal handler is executing; and c) if the handler interrupts a blocking system call, then the system call is automatically restarted. A portable application cannot rely on signal(2) to provide these guarantees.

RETURN VALUE

The bsd_signal() function returns the previous value of the signal handler, or SIG_ERR on error.

ERRORS

As for signal(2).

ATTRIBUTES

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

Interface	Attribute	Value
bsd_signal()	Thread safety	MT-Safe

CONFORMING TO

4.2BSD, POSIX.1-2001. POSIX.1-2008 removes the specification of bsd_signal(), recommending the use of sigaction(2) instead.

NOTES

Use of bsd_signal() should be avoided; use sigaction(2) instead.
On modern Linux systems, bsd_signal() and signal(2) are equivalent. But on older systems, signal(2) provided unreliable signal semantics; see signal(2) for details.
The use of sighandler_t is a GNU extension; this type is defined only if the _GNU_SOURCE feature test macro is defined.

SEE ALSO

sigaction(2), signal(2), sysv_signal(3), signal(7)

COLOPHON

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