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NAME

       pthread_sigmask, pthread_kill, sigwait - handling of signals in threads

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pthread.h>
       #include <signal.h>

       int  pthread_sigmask(int  how,  const   sigset_t   *newmask,   sigset_t
       *oldmask);

       int pthread_kill(pthread_t thread, int signo);

       int sigwait(const sigset_t *set, int *sig);

DESCRIPTION

       pthread_sigmask  changes  the  signal  mask  for  the calling thread as
       described by the how and newmask arguments. If oldmask is not NULL, the
       previous signal mask is stored in the location pointed to by oldmask.

       The  meaning  of  the  how  and  newmask  arguments  is the same as for
       sigprocmask(2).  If how is SIG_SETMASK,  the  signal  mask  is  set  to
       newmask.   If  how  is  SIG_BLOCK, the signals specified to newmask are
       added to the current signal mask.  If how is SIG_UNBLOCK,  the  signals
       specified to newmask are removed from the current signal mask.

       Recall  that  signal  masks  are  set on a per-thread basis, but signal
       actions and signal handlers,  as  set  with  sigaction(2),  are  shared
       between all threads.

       pthread_kill send signal number signo to the thread thread.  The signal
       is delivered and handled as described in kill(2).

       sigwait suspends the calling thread until one of the signals in set  is
       delivered  to  the  calling  thread.  It  then stores the number of the
       signal received in the location pointed to  by  sig  and  returns.  The
       signals  in set must be blocked and not ignored on entrance to sigwait.
       If the delivered signal has a signal handler  function  attached,  that
       function is not called.

CANCELLATION

       sigwait is a cancellation point.

RETURN VALUE

       On  success,  0  is  returned.  On  failure,  a  non-zero error code is
       returned.

ERRORS

       The pthread_sigmask function  returns  the  following  error  codes  on
       error:

              EINVAL how is not one of SIG_SETMASK, SIG_BLOCK, or SIG_UNBLOCK

              EFAULT newmask or oldmask point to invalid addresses

       The pthread_kill function returns the following error codes on error:

              EINVAL signo is not a valid signal number

              ESRCH  the  thread  thread  does  not exist (e.g. it has already
                     terminated)

       The sigwait function never returns an error.

AUTHOR

       Xavier Leroy <Xavier.Leroy@inria.fr>

SEE ALSO

       sigprocmask(2), kill(2), sigaction(2), sigsuspend(2).

NOTES

       For sigwait to work reliably, the signals  being  waited  for  must  be
       blocked in all threads, not only in the calling thread, since otherwise
       the POSIX semantics for signal delivery do not guarantee that it's  the
       thread doing the sigwait that will receive the signal.  The best way to
       achieve this is block those signals before any threads are created, and
       never unblock them in the program other than by calling sigwait.

BUGS

       Signal  handling  in  LinuxThreads departs significantly from the POSIX
       standard.  According  to  the  standard,  ``asynchronous''   (external)
       signals  are  addressed  to  the  whole  process (the collection of all
       threads), which then delivers them to one particular thread. The thread
       that actually receives the signal is any thread that does not currently
       block the signal.

       In LinuxThreads, each thread is actually a kernel process with its  own
       PID,  so external signals are always directed to one particular thread.
       If, for instance, another thread is blocked in sigwait on that  signal,
       it will not be restarted.

       The  LinuxThreads  implementation  of  sigwait  installs  dummy  signal
       handlers for the signals in set for the duration  of  the  wait.  Since
       signal  handlers are shared between all threads, other threads must not
       attach their own signal handlers to  these  signals,  or  alternatively
       they should all block these signals (which is recommended anyway -- see
       the Notes section).

                                 LinuxThreads                PTHREAD_SIGNAL(3)