To share an unsigned int between parent and child after fork()? - c

I'm trying to write a small program that generates a child process with fork() that will have to increase a variable shared with the parent, how do I share an unsigned int variable?
code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
static unsigned int elapsed;
int count(){
while(1){
sleep(1);
elapsed++;
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
void hadler(int sig){
if( sig == SIGUSR1){
printf("elapsed: %u\n", elapsed);
}
}
int main(){
pid_t pid = getpid();
printf("This is my pid: %d\n", pid);
pid = fork();
if(pid == 0)
count();
while(1){
signal(SIGUSR1, hadler);
}
}
You can see there is a child than exec count() (increase a variable "elapsed" every second). The parent is waiting for SIGUSR1, when receive the signal he print the "elapsed".
Naively I tried to use a static global variable but it doesn't work for obvious reasons.

Related

Why does this function produce so many child processes?

I wrote this code in order to calculate the factorial of a number using processes and pipe(). I wanted to pass on the result from the child process to the child process. For example, to create calculate 5! the main which is the father sends the number 1 in the pipe. Then the first child is created and does 1*2, then it pushes in the pipe the number 2, the second child does 2*3 pushes the result in the pipe etc... Also, I use argv[1][0] thinking that we run the program like this (./ex3 5) where 5 is the number of which the factorial we would like to find. After running the program though, I noticed that a lot of child process was created (I only wanted 4). Why is that?
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int fd[2];
int w,count=2;
void child_creator(){
pid_t child;
child=fork();
if (child==0) {
close(fd[1]);
read(fd[0],&w,sizeof(w));
close(fd[0]);
w=w*count;
count++;
printf("I am child %d , my father is %d , the prod is %d\n",getpid(),getppid(),w);
sleep(1);
close(fd[0]);
write(fd[1],&w,sizeof(w));
close(fd[1]);
}
}
int main(int argc , char **argv){
int fact=argv[1][0]-'0';
pipe(fd);
w=1;
for (int i=0; i<fact-1; i++){
printf("this is i %d\n", i);
child_creator();
}
return 0;
}
After a suggested answer I tried this code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int fd[1000][2];
int w,count=1,j=0;
void child_creator(){
pid_t child;
j++;
pipe(fd[j]);
child=fork();
if (child==0) {
close(fd[j-1][1]);
read(fd[j-1][0],&w,sizeof(w));
close(fd[j-1][0]);
w=w*count;
printf("I am child %d , my father is %d , the prod is %d\n",getpid(),getppid(),w);
sleep(1);
close(fd[j-1][0]);
write(fd[j][1],&w,sizeof(w));
close(fd[j][1]);
exit(0);
}
}
int main(int argc , char **argv){
int fact=argv[1][0]-'0';
w=1;
for (int i=0; i<fact-1; i++){
count++;
child_creator();
sleep(2);
}
return 0;
}
Both the parent and child are returning to the for loop in main(). Since the child doesn't need to do anything after it writes its result, it should just exit rather than returning.
You also have problems with your handling of the pipe file descriptors. You do close(fd[1]) at the beginning of the child, but later try to write(fd[1],&w,sizeof(w)). You can't write to a closed FD. You don't need to close anything until the child is exiting, and exiting a process automatically closes all its files.
void child_creator(){
pid_t child;
child=fork();
if (child==0) {
read(fd[0],&w,sizeof(w));
w=w*count;
count++;
printf("I am child %d , my father is %d , the prod is %d\n",getpid(),getppid(),w);
sleep(1);
write(fd[1],&w,sizeof(w));
exit(0);
}
}

Fork and exec several children in linux

I want to fork and exec several processes from another.
My parent code is
/*Daddy.c*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
int main(void)
{
int status;
char *nChild;
for (int i=0; i<3;i++){
int pid = fork();
if (pid == 0)
{
sprintf(nChild, "%d", i);
printf("%d\n", i);
char *const arguments[]={nChild, NULL};
fflush(NULL);
execv("child",arguments);
printf("\nNo , you can't print!\n");
}else if (pid == -1){
printf("%d\n", getpid());
exit(0);
}
}
wait(&status);
printf("Dad %d went out!\n", getpid());
exit(0);
}
and my child process is
/*child.c*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int args, char **argv){
if( args !=2){
printf("Child going away!\n");
exit(1);
}
printf("Child %s: %d going away stylishly!\n", argv[1], getpid());
exit(0);
}
When I don´t create three forks, but one, I know how to create the child, do some work and exit from child and parent. But, in this case, with several children it seems like the child never executes.
Because of the line wait(&status) I did hope that when the first child exits, the parent also exits but, any child prints any message.
Some relevant previous questions didn´t help.
You need to make parent wait for all child processes to finish. If not, assume that 1 child waited for is done and then parent exits. What about the other 2 children? They become orphan since their parent doesn't wait for them.
pid_t wpid;
int status = 0;
.
.
while ((wpid = wait(&status)) > 0); // the parent waits for all the child processes
This code did the job
/* daddy.c */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(void)
{
int status=0;
char nChild[16];
pid_t wpid;
for (int i=0; i<3;i++){
sprintf(nChild, "%d", i);
int pid = fork();
if (pid == 0)
{
printf("%s\n", nChild);
char *const arguments[]={"child", nChild, NULL};
fflush(NULL);
execv("child",arguments);
printf("\nNo , you can't print!\n");
}else if (pid == -1){
printf("%d\n", getpid());
exit(0);
}
}
while ((wpid=wait(&status)) >0);
printf("Dad %d went out!\n", getpid());
exit(0);
}
As #OnzOg said in the comments of the question, allocation of nChild was the main problem. Also execv need pass child name twice, one as argument.
And finally, to improve the code, parent process needs to wait all processes to finish.

how can I send a signal between a child and a parent processes in linux

I have two cods the first one is for the parent which sends a signal (SIGUSER1) to the child and when the child receive it he should print that he received it.
Parent code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
void sighand(int);
int main()
{
int cpid, ppid;
ppid = getpid();
printf("My process ID is %d\n", ppid);
FILE *fp1;
fp1 = fopen("cpid.txt", "w+");
cpid = fork();
if ( cpid == 0 ) {
printf("I am the child => PID = %d\n", getpid());
}
else
printf("I am the parent => PID = %d, child ID = %d\n", getpid(), cpid);
fprintf(fp1, "%d\n", cpid);
// kill(cpid, SIGUSR1);//id, signal, send
sigset(SIGUSR2, sighand);
return 0;
}
void sighand(int the_sig){
if (the_sig == SIGUSR2){
printf("sigusr2 received");
exit(1);
}
}
Child code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
void sighand1(int);
int main()
{
FILE *fp1;
int pid;
fp1 = fopen("cpid.txt", "r");
fscanf(fp1, "%d,", &pid);
sigset(SIGUSR1,sighand1);
while(1) {
printf("Waiting..");
sigpause(SIGUSR1);
}
return 0;
}
void sighand1(int the_sig)
{
if (the_sig == SIGUSR1){
printf("sigusr1 received");
exit(1);
}
}
When I start the code it prints that the process (child) was created then when I send a signal it wont do any thing the child stuck in a loop or the wait and the parent wont do anything can any one tell me where did i go wrong in my code or logic.
Your code has several problems:
You try to pass some pid through a file, but you can use the getppid() function (get parent id)
You have some child code, but it is not called
no signal is launched
So your code can be corrected this way:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <signal.h>
void parent_handler(int the_sig)
{
if (the_sig == SIGUSR2){
printf("sigusr2 received in parent\n");
}
}
void child_handler(int the_sig)
{
if (the_sig == SIGUSR1){
printf("sigusr1 received in child\n");
kill(getppid(), SIGUSR2);
exit(1);
}
}
int child_function()
{
/* prepare to receive signal */
sigset(SIGUSR1,child_handler);
while(1) {
printf("Waiting..");
fflush(stdout);
/* wait for signal */
sigpause(SIGUSR1);
}
return 0;
}
int main()
{
int cpid, ppid;
ppid = getpid();
printf("My process ID is %d\n", ppid);
cpid = fork();
if ( cpid == 0 ) {
printf("I am the child => PID = %d\n", getpid());
child_function();
return 0;
}
else
printf("I am the parent => PID = %d, child ID = %d\n", getpid(), cpid);
/* child will never reach this point */
sleep(1);
/* prepare parent to received signal */
sigset(SIGUSR2, parent_handler);
/* send signal to child */
kill(cpid, SIGUSR1);
sleep(1);
return 0;
}

How to send a signal to a child several times avoiding zombie state? C language

I need to send a signal to a child process 3 times.
The problem is that the child only receives the signal once and then transforms into a zombie.
The expected output would be:
 I'm the child 11385 and i received SIGUSR1
 I'm the child 11385 and i received SIGUSR1
 I'm the child 11385 and i received SIGUSR1
But the real output is:
 I'm the child 11385 and i received SIGUSR1
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
void my_handler()
{
printf("\n I'm the child %i and i received SIGUSR1\n", getpid());
}
int main (int argc, char **argv) {
int *array;
int N = 10;
int i;
pid_t pid1;
array=(int*)malloc(sizeof(int)*N);
signal(SIGUSR1,my_handler);
for (i = 0; i< N; i++)
{
pid1 = fork();
if(pid1 < 0)
{
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
else if (pid1 > 0)
{
array[i]= pid1;
}
else
{
sleep(100);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
}
i=0;
while(i<3) // I need to call the son 3 times
{
kill(array[1], SIGUSR1);
i++;
}
}
When the child receives the signal, it is probably waiting for the sleep to terminate. The first signal will interrupt the sleep even if the time hasn't expired, causing it to return with errno set to EINTR. If you want it to keep sleeping, you need to call sleep again.
your parent process exited without wait()ing for the child
The signals could be sent to fast, I added a short delay
i added more delays
the correct signature for a signal handler is void handler(int signum) This is crucial, because the handler is called with an argument, and the stack layout is different for signal handlers.
you should not call printf() from a signal handler, it is not async safe.
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
char pidstr[10];
char massage[]=" I'm the child and i received SIGUSR1\n";
#define CNT 1
void my_handler(int signum)
{
write(0, massage, strlen(massage));
}
int main (int argc, char **argv) {
int i , err, status;
pid_t pid1;
int array[CNT];
signal(SIGUSR1, my_handler);
for (i = 0; i< CNT; i++) {
pid1 = fork();
if(pid1 < 0) { exit(EXIT_FAILURE); }
else if (pid1 > 0) {
printf("ChildPid=%d\n", pid1 );
array[i]= pid1;
}
else
{ // child
// signal(SIGUSR1, my_handler);
sprintf(pidstr,"[%d]", getpid() );
memcpy (massage,pidstr, strlen(pidstr));
sleep(10);
printf("Unslept\n");
sleep(10);
printf("Unslept\n");
sleep(10);
printf("Unslept\n");
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
}
sleep(10);
for (i=0; i<3; i++) {
err = kill(array[0], SIGUSR1);
printf("Err=%d:%d\n", err, (err) ? errno: 0 );
sleep(1);
}
while ( (pid1=wait( &status)) != -1){
printf("[Parent] Reaped %d\n", pid1);
}
return 0;
}

sending signal between two child process

I create two children from the parent in the main program. The first and second child executes a program (signalSender) after their creation(alongside with the pid of the other child as an argument). signalSender has signal handler and is used for sending signal between process. The pid of the second child is given as zero as argument when first child executes signalShooter. The pid of the first child is given as argument when the second child executes sigShooter.
1) I want to find the pid of the first child via signal handler after second child sends the signal to first child. I tried to save it to global variable pid_t pid2 but it does not work.
2)I also have to send signal between these two children 100 times but i dont know where to use 'for loop' and ‘wait’ signal.
The main program:
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <signal.h>
int main()
{
pid_t pid1,pid2,wid;
char *my_args[5];
int aInt = 368
char str[15];
pid1 = fork();
if (pid1 < 0)
{
fprintf(stderr, ": fork failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
exit(1);
}
if(pid1 == 0)
{
my_args[0] = "sigperf1";
my_args[1] = "0";
my_args[2] = NULL;
execv("signalSender",my_args);
fprintf(stderr,"signalSender cannot be executed...");
exit(-1);
}
pid2 = fork();
if(pid2 < 0)
{
fprintf(stderr, ": fork failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
exit(1);
}
if(pid2 == 0)
{
sprintf(str, "%d", pid1);
my_args[0] = "sigperf1";
my_args[1] = str;
my_args[2] = NULL;
// printf("this is converted = %s\n",my_args[1]);
execv(“signalSender",my_args);
fprintf(stderr,"signalSender cannot be executed...");
exit(-1);
}
wid = wait(NULL);
}
The signalSender:
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <ctype.h>
pid_t pid2;
struct sigaction act;
void sighandler(int signum, siginfo_t *info, void *ptr)
{
printf("Received signal %d\n", signum);
printf("Signal originates from process %lu\n",
(unsigned long)info->si_pid);
pid2 = info->si_pid;
}
int main(int argc,char **argv)
{
memset(&act, 0, sizeof(act));
act.sa_sigaction = sighandler;
act.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
sigaction(SIGUSR1, &act, NULL);
pid_t current, pidOther;
current = getpid();
pidOther = atol(argv[1]);
if(pidOther != 0) // we are in the second child
{
kill(pidOther,SIGUSR1); //sending signal from second child to first
}
if(pidOther == 0) // we are in the first child
{
kill(pid2,SIGUSR1);
}
return 0;
}
You have a synchronization issue here.
Both child processes start at roughly the same time. So you can't predict which one will kill the other first. If the first child runs kill first, it will pass 0 as the pid which will kill every process in the process group. Also, each child process quits immediately after calling kill, so one may exit before the other has a chance to send it a signal.
You need to introduce some type of synchronization method. A simple way to do this is to have the second process sleep briefly before calling kill to give the first process a chance to start up. Similarly, the first process should call pause, which will tell it to wait until it receives a signal.
Once you do that, then each process can call pause and kill in a loop to go back and forth.
if(pidOther != 0) // we are in the second child
{
sleep(1); // wait for first child to start
kill(pidOther,SIGUSR1); //sending signal from second child to first
for (i=0;i<5;i++) {
pause();
kill(pidOther,SIGUSR1);
}
}
if(pidOther == 0) // we are in the first child
{
pause(); // wait until we get a signal from the second child
kill(pid2,SIGUSR1);
for (i=0;i<5;i++) {
pause();
kill(pid2,SIGUSR1);
}
}

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