NAME
getitimer, setitimer - get/set value of interval timer
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/time.h>
#define ITIMER_REAL 0
#define ITIMER_VIRTUAL 1
#define ITIMER_PROF 2
int
getitimer(int which, struct itimerval *value);
int
setitimer(int which, const struct itimerval *value,
struct itimerval *ovalue);
DESCRIPTION
The system provides each process with three interval timers, defined in
The getitimer() system call returns the current value for the timer
specified in which in the structure at value. The setitimer() system
call sets a timer to the specified value (returning the previous value of
the timer if ovalue is not a null pointer).
A timer value is defined by the itimerval structure:
struct itimerval {
struct timeval it_interval; /* timer interval */
struct timeval it_value; /* current value */
};
If it_value is non-zero, it indicates the time to the next timer
expiration. If it_interval is non-zero, it specifies a value to be used
in reloading it_value when the timer expires. Setting it_value to 0
disables a timer, regardless of the value of it_interval. Setting
it_interval to 0 causes a timer to be disabled after its next expiration
(assuming it_value is non-zero).
Time values smaller than the resolution of the system clock are rounded
up to this resolution (typically 10 milliseconds).
The ITIMER_REAL timer decrements in real time. A SIGALRM signal is
delivered when this timer expires.
The ITIMER_VIRTUAL timer decrements in process virtual time. It runs
only when the process is executing. A SIGVTALRM signal is delivered when
it expires.
The ITIMER_PROF timer decrements both in process virtual time and when
the system is running on behalf of the process. It is designed to be
used by interpreters in statistically profiling the execution of
interpreted programs. Each time the ITIMER_PROF timer expires, the
SIGPROF signal is delivered. Because this signal may interrupt in-
progress system calls, programs using this timer must be prepared to
restart interrupted system calls.
The maximum number of seconds allowed for it_interval and it_value in
setitimer() is 100000000.
NOTES
Three macros for manipulating time values are defined in The timerclear()
macro sets a time value to zero, timerisset() tests if a time value is
non-zero, and timercmp() compares two time values.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the value 0 is returned; otherwise the
value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the
error.
ERRORS
The getitimer() and setitimer() system calls will fail if:
[EFAULT] The value argument specified a bad address.
[EINVAL] The value argument specified a time that was too large
to be handled.
SEE ALSO
gettimeofday(2), select(2), sigvec(2), clocks(7)
HISTORY
The getitimer() system call appeared in 4.2BSD.