Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!daver!tscs!tct!chip
From: chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: C++ and UNIX Signals.
Message-ID: <26D031A9.3036@tct.uucp>
Date: 20 Aug 90 17:02:49 GMT
References: <1699@dinl.mmc.UUCP>
Organization: Teltronics/TCT, Sarasota, FL
Lines: 17

According to noren@dinl.UUCP (Charles Noren):
>How reentrant is C++ code?  Suppose you have a class
>(lets call it the infamous class foo), and you perform
>a new on it, and suddenly a signal throws you into
>your signal handler which also also does a new on foo [...]

Bzzt!  You lose the portability sweepstakes.

About the only portable thing you can do in a signal
handler is set a flag of type sig_atomic_t (as defined
in <sys/types.h>), or a plain int if you don't have a
definition for sig_atomic_t.

In general, doing memory management in a signal handler
is a Very Bad Idea.
-- 
Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT     <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!pdn!tct!chip>