Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!purdue!decwrl!shlump.dec.com!decuac!jetson!john
From: john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens)
Newsgroups: comp.bugs.sys5
Subject: Re: What's a system call ( Was: 'what' doesn't use perror...)
Message-ID: <225@jetson.UPMA.MD.US>
Date: 18 May 89 00:55:32 GMT
References: <3759@sugar.hackercorp.com] <10156@smoke.BRL.MIL] <1232@netcom.UUCP>
Organization: SMART HOUSE Limited Partnership
Lines: 18

In article <1232@netcom.UUCP>, chris@netcom.UUCP (Chris Lakewood) writes:
> ]	alarm(n);
> ]	pause();
> ](the guts of sleep) and what happens if the process doesn't run for n

> Don't leave us in suspense...  What happens if the process doesn't run for
> n seconds?  Actually, the process won't run for at least n seconds unless
> it receives some signal.  The pause causes the process to block until a
> signal is received.

If the process doesn't run for 'n' seconds *after* the alarm() is
posted and *before* pause() is called, it'll get a SIGALRM (which is,
I think, set to SIG_IGN at that point), not do anything, then call
pause() too late....

-- 
John Owens		john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US		uunet!jetson!john
+1 301 249 6000		john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net