Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!im4u!ut-sally!utastro!bigtex!james
From: james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport
Subject: Re: YAMB: times(2) is broken in large model
Message-ID: <1447@bigtex.uucp>
Date: 4 Apr 88 08:07:34 GMT
References: <463@splut.UUCP>
Reply-To: james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen)
Organization: F.B.N. Software, Austin TX
Lines: 27
Keywords: this one's a real pain, too...

IN article <463@splut.UUCP>, jay@splut.UUCP (Jay Maynard) wrote:
> times(2) is documented to return, besides the cpu times in the structure
> that is passed as its parameter, a monotonically increasing number that
> is the elapsed real time in 60ths of a second since the machine was
> booted. In small model, it does this just fine; in large model, it
> always returns -1. (argh!!)

My documentation does not guarantee that the values returned by times() are
monotonically increasing.  It would be a useful assumption, and the include
file /usr/include/sys/proc.h would indicate it is true, but the effect
on times(2) of stime(2) is not defined.  It would be academic except that
BSD unix *does* go to the trouble of guaranteeing a monotonically increasing
clock, and the fact that many uPort 286 users have trouble with cron due to
the need to constantly adjust the clock...

In the program included,

> 	struct tms *timesbuf;

should be "struct tms timesbuf", and

> 		thistime = times(timesbuf);

should be "thistime = times(&timesbuf)", according to my documentation.
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen       jva@astro.as.utexas.edu         "Live Free or Die"
Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746