How to send notification to other process from inside Signal handler? - c

I have 2 process lets say A and B. process A will get the input from user and do some processing.
There is no parent/child relation between process A and B.
If process A get killed by a signal, Is there any way i can send the message to process B from inside signal handler ?
Note: For my requirement it if fine that once i done with processing already received input from the user and exit from main loop if SIGHUP signal is received.
I am having following idea in my mind. Is there any flaw in this design ?
process A
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
int signal;// variable to set inside signal handler
sig_hup_handler_callback()
{
signal = TRUE;
}
int main()
{
char str[10];
signal(SIGHUP,sig_hup_handler_callback);
//Loops which will get the input from the user.
while(1)
{
if(signal == TRUE) { //received a signal
send_message_to_B();
return 0;
}
scanf("%s",str);
do_process(str); //do some processing with the input
}
return 0;
}
/*function to send the notification to process B*/
void send_message_to_B()
{
//send the message using msg que
}

Just think if process A is executing do_process(str); and crash happen then in call back Flag will be updated but you while loop will never called for next time so your send_message_to_B(); will not be called. So better to put that function in callback only..
Just as below.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
int signal;// variable to set inside signal handler
sig_hup_handler_callback()
{
send_message_to_B();
}
int main()
{
char str[10];
signal(SIGHUP,sig_hup_handler_callback);
//Loops which will get the input from the user.
while(1)
{
scanf("%s",str);
do_process(str); //do some processing with the input
}
return 0;
}
/*function to send the notification to process B*/
void send_message_to_B()
{
//send the message using msg que
}

As mentioned by Jeegar in the other answer, fatal signals will interrupt the process main execution and have the signal handler called. And the control won't be back to where it was interrupted. Hence your code as it is shown now will never call send_message_to_B after handling fatal signal.
Be careful on what functions you invoke from the signal handlers. Some functions are considered not safe to be called from signal-handlers - Refer section - Async-signal-safe functions

Related

Catching Signals and Pausing with Character Device Drivers

I'm a student new to C Programming and am not fully understanding how signal catching works, and in line with character device drivers. I'd appreciate some help but I need to state that this is for a project that is due in my first C Programming class. So I have not posted any direct code, only an example of my initial approach.
My project needs to accept a signal input and set that signal to a variable to pass to my character device driver. Another program I've written will need to access that variable's value such that when read, it performs a certain outcome. I've tried to run my control program (<name> &) but it quits immediately. I double check by entering ps into my command prompt and the process is gone.
Basically I need my control program to pause and wait for the signal to be received. Once received, if the signal matches it will set a variable to its value. Otherwise, if it is SIGTERM it will either end or pause(), where it will wait until another signal is received that meets another condition. Currently, when I compile and run it with & it simply runs and quits. Here is an example of my code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
static int file_state; //variable to pass to the driver for recording
void sig_handler(int sig);
void sig_handler(int sig){
while(1){
if(sig == SIGRTMIN){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN\n");
file_state = 0;
}else if(sig == SIGRTMIN+1){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN1\n");
file_state = 1;
}else if(sig == SIGTERM){
printf("Exiting\n");
exit(0); //exit
}else{
printf("SIG = %i\n", sig);
pause(); //doesn't match, pause for next signal
}
}
}
int main(){
signal(SIGINT, sig_handler);
//return 0; //tried with and without
}
I'm waiting until this daemon receives a signal to put the device driver into a particular mode. I haven't entered any write() methods yet because I'm trying to take this one step at a time where I send a signal with kill() and the proper response is returned with printf().
My problem is that I can't seem to keep this in pause() mode while I'm waiting for a signal that breaks the if loop. What's worse (other than my lack of knowledge and programming) is that I can't even keep this daemon open long enough to attempt a signal send. Once I can get this to pause and receive the signal, I plan to use the system write() method to write my file_state variable to the /dev/<filename>, which will be cross-referenced in my executable.
How far off am I? This is the final part that (I believe) I'm stuck on and I can't figure out how this should be approached. I've looked online and about 95% of the examples that delve into this contain methods we haven't learned yet. And if not, the examples are more simplistic where they do not include passing a value to a character device driver for use when another program is using the driver.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
ETA
I've updated my code so now it stays open until a signal is received. Problem is that I want this to pause() and remain open until the SIGTERM signal is received, breaking the loop and ending the program. I can't seem to get the loop correct. Even entering a conditional int variable into the while() loop still is broken when any signal is received. Here is my updated code below:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
static int file_state; //variable to pass to the driver for recording
int keep_alive = 1; //added for conditional checking to keep the while
//loop open to receive more than one signal
void sig_handler(int sig);
void sig_handler(int sig){
if(sig == SIGRTMIN){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN\n");
file_state = 0;
}else if(sig == SIGRTMIN+1){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN1\n");
file_state = 1;
}else if(sig == SIGTERM){
keep_alive = 0;
}else{
}
}
int main(){
do{
signal(SIGINT, sig_handler);
pause(); //thought pausing here would help with waiting for a new signal
}while(keep_alive == 1); //keep looping until false
return 0; //tried with and without
}
I'm trying to figure out a method to keep this process and signal catching loop alive until a specific signal is received. I can't figure it out for the life of me.
ETA 2
Discovered my issue. I wasn't paying attention and fully understanding the signal() method. The first argument requires the exact signal you are attempting to catch. I was using SIGINT which I was understanding it to be a "class" of interrupts that you wanted to catch. And then in the signal_handler() function, you would specify which type of interrupt you were catching. But, it is actually looking to catch the exact signal you are interested in. So in my example code, I should have been using:
int main(){
if(signal(SIGRMIN, sig_handler) == SIG_ERR){
printf("can't catch SIGRMIN Signal.\n")
}
...
}
I'm going to update with my new script as an answer and if anyone thinks it should be done differently or have any constructive criticisms please let me know. Thanks again!
So I found my issue, and it is working now. Below is my fixed code that produces the correct response back to the terminal when caught. I've added a for() loop to catch any other signals I'm not worried about didn't stop my process, only SIGTERM will. Look forward to getting critiqued and why I would never want to do my approach.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
static int file_state; //variable to pass to the driver for recording
void sig_handler(int sig);
void sig_handler(int sig){
if(sig == SIGRTMIN){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN\n");
file_state = 0;
}else if(sig == SIGRTMIN+1){
printf("SIG = SIGRTMIN1\n");
file_state = 1;
}else if(sig == SIGTERM){
exit(0);
EXIT_SUCCESS;
}else{
printf("SIGNAL CAUGHT #%d\n", sig);
}
}
int main(){
if(signal(SIGRTMIN, sig_handler)==SIG_ERR){
printf("Unable to catch SIGRTMIN\n");
}
if(signal(SIGRTMIN+1, sig_handler)==SIG_ERR){
printf("Unable to catch SIGRTMIN+1\n");
}
if(signal(SIGTERM, sig_handler)==SIG_ERR){
printf("Unable to terminate process.\n");
}
//This for loop will catch all other signals except the un-catchable and
//other user-specified above signal #31.
int s;
for(s = 0; s < 32; s++){
signal(s, sig_handler);
}
while(1);
pause();
return 0;
}
There are 2 parts, 1st user space where generation and catching of signals occurs. This has nothing to do with kernel driver. Your code seems okay about it.
2nd is interacting with driver when signal has been caught. For char driver have a look at this link. You can simply write a value write(fd, 1, &buf); from user space program and implement corresponding write() in char driver.

Why the signal pause will cause the program to sleep forever?

The APUE book says that: If the signal occurs after the test of sig_int_flag but before the call to pause, the process could go to sleep forever.
I don't know why, can somebody tells me?
Thanks a lot.
int sig_int(); /* my signal handling function */
int sig_int_flag; /* set nonzero when signal occurs */
int main() {
signal(SIGINT, sig_int) /* establish handler */
.
.
.
while (sig_int_flag == 0)
pause(); /* go to sleep, waiting for signal */
}
int sig_int() {
signal(SIGINT, sig_int); /* reestablish handler for next time */
sig_int_flag = 1; /* set flag for main loop to examine */
}
If an interrupt signal is issued at the precise time you're describing:
the flag has been checked false: entering loop
signal resets itself, setting the flag to 1, but too late (test has been done)
since loop has already been entered, pause() is called and the program waits
That said, if CTRL+C/SIGINT is triggered another time, you can exit the loop, so it's not that critical, since that signal can be issued manually.
If you want to check that behaviour, I suggest you add a sleep statement:
while (sig_int_flag == 0)
{
printf("Hit CTRL+C in the next 10 seconds to trigger the bug\n");
sleep(10);
pause(); /* go to sleep, waiting for signal */
}
A workaround would be to remove the pause() statement and replace it by a polling loop:
while (sig_int_flag == 0)
{
sleep(1);
}
If a SIGINT occurs anywhere in the loop, including between the while and the sleep, then the worse thing that can happen is that the program waits 1 second before noticing that the flag is set, then it exits the loop, and the other, more plausible case it that the sleep call is interrupted, and the loop is exited immediately, so when the signal is set, there's little visible difference between that and a pause call if we only expect SIGINT.
The question's already answered. However, additional answer can consolidate the idea.
while (sig_int_flag == 0) {
<----- think it signal is caught here before pause btw while and pause()
pause(); /* go to sleep, waiting for signal */
}
Having caught, signal handler runs. After it finishes its task, it returns to a point at which the signal is caught, in main() in this case. So, the point is pause() and pause() is called. It waits again SIGINT to catch. To exemplify it, I add sleep(5) equivalently to catch prior pause().
So, we typically want the second situation. To achieve it always, the aforementioned code block has to be atomic. That's why sigsuspend() is better and should be used.
If you would like to experience the fallible case,
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
volatile sig_atomic_t sig_int_flag = 0; /* set nonzero when signal occurs */
char const * handlerMsg = "in handler\n";
int handlerMsgLen;
void sig_int(int s) {
signal(SIGINT, sig_int); /* reestablish handler for next time */
sig_int_flag = 1; /* set flag for main loop to examine */
write(2, handlerMsg, handlerMsgLen);
}
void mySleep() {
for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
sleep(1);
fprintf(stderr, "%d ", i + 1);
}
}
int main() {
handlerMsgLen = strlen(handlerMsg);
signal(SIGINT, sig_int); /* establish handler */
while (sig_int_flag == 0) {
mySleep();
pause(); /* go to sleep, waiting for signal */
}
}

C: Pause system() call

I got a problem in C when I try to pause an execution of a system() call.
A thread calls some application (e.g. some benchmark) repeatedly. Whenever it gets a signal SIGUSR1, the execution shall be paused and resumed on receiving SIGUSR2.
The source looks like this:
#include <signal.h>
#include <pthread.h>
void* run_app(sigset_t* signalsBetweenControllerandLoad)
{
/* assign handler */
signal(SIGUSR1, pausesignal_handler)
signal(SIGUSR2, pausesignal_handler)
pthread_sigmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, signalsBetweenControllerandLoad, NULL))
/* call application repeatedly */
while(1) {
system(SOMECOMMAND);
}
return(0);
}
static void pausesignal_handler(int signo)
{
int caughtSignal;
caughtSignal = 0;
/* when SIGUSR1 is received, wait until SIGUSR2 to continue execution */
if (signo == SIGUSR1) {
signal(signo, pausesignal_handler);
while (caughtSignal != SIGUSR2) {
sigwait (signalsBetweenControllerandLoad, &caughtSignal);
}
}
}
When I use some commands (e.g. a for loop as below that makes some computations) instead of system(SOMECOMMAND) this code works. But a program called by system() is not paused when the handler is active.
int i;
for(i=0;i<10;i++) {
sleep(1);
printf("Just a text");
}
Is there a way to pause the execution of the system() command by using thread signals? And is there even a way to stop the application called by system without needing to wait until the program is finished?
Thank you very much in advance!
system runs the command in a separate process, which doesn't even share address space with the invoking program, never mind signal handlers. The process which called system is sitting in a waitpid (or equivalent), so pausing and unpausing it will have little effect (except that if it is paused, it won't return to the loop to call system again.)
In short, there is no way to use signals sent to the parent process to pause an executable being run in a child, for example with the system() call or with fork()/exec().
If the executable itself implements the feature (which is unlikely, unless you wrote it yourself), you could deliver the signal to that process, not the one which called system.
Alternatively, you could send the SIGSTOP signal to the executable's process, which will unconditionally suspend execution. To do that, you'll need to know its pid, which suggests the use of the fork()/exec()/waitpid() sequence -- a little more work than system(), but cleaner, safer, and generally more efficient -- and you'll need to deal with a couple of issues:
A process cannot block or trap SIGSTOP, but it can trap SIGCONT so the sequence is not necessarily 100% transparent.
Particular care needs to be taken if the stopped process is the terminal's controlling process, since when it is resumed with SIGCONT it will need to reacquire the terminal. Furthermore, if the application has placed the terminal in a non-standard state -- for example, by using the readline or curses libraries which typically put the terminal into raw mode and disable echoing -- then the terminal may be rendered unusable.
Your process will receive a SIGCHLD signal as a result of the child processed being stopped. So you need to handle that correctly.
I want to present you my (shortened) resulting code after the help of #rici. Again, thank you very much.
Shortly described, the code forks a new process (calling fork) and executes there a command with exec. The parent then catches user defined signals SIGNAL_PAUSE and SIGNAL_RESUME and forwards signals to the forked child accordingly. Whenever the command finishes - catched by waitpid - the parent forks again and restarts the load.
This gets repeated until SIGNAL_STOP is sent where the child gets a SIGINT and gets cancelled.
#include <pthread.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define SIGNAL_PAUSE (SIGUSR1)
#define SIGNAL_RESUME (SIGUSR2)
#define SIGNAL_STOP (SIGSYS)
/* File scoped functions */
static void pausesignal_handler(int signo);
static void stopsignal_handler(int signo);
void send_signal_to_load_child(int signo);
/*Set file scope variables as handlers can only have signal-number as argument */
sigset_t* signalsBetweenControllerandLoad;
int restart_benchmark;
pid_t child_pid;
void* Load(char* load_arguments[MAX_NR_LOAD_ARGS], sigset_t* signalsToCatch) {
int load_ID;
pid_t p;
signalsBetweenControllerandLoad = signalsToCatch;
/* set signal handlers to catch signals from controller */
signal(SIGNAL_PAUSE, pausesignal_handler)
signal(SIGNAL_RESUME, pausesignal_handler)
signal(SIGNAL_STOP, stopsignal_handler)
pthread_sigmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, signalsBetweenControllerandLoad[load_ID], NULL)
/* Keep restarting benchmark until Stop signal was received */
restart_benchmark[load_ID] = 1;
/* execute benchmark, repeat until stop signal received */
while(restart_benchmark[load_ID])
{
if (child_pid == 0) {
if ((p = fork()) == 0) {
execv(load_arguments[0],load_arguments);
exit(0);
}
}
/* Parent process: Wait until child with benchmark finished and restart it */
if (p>0) {
child_pid = p; /* Make PID available for helper functions */
wait(child_pid); /* Wait until child finished */
child_pid = 0; /* Reset PID when benchmark finished */
}
}
return(0);
}
static void pausesignal_handler(int signo) {
static double elapsedTime;
int caughtSignal;
caughtSignal = 0;
if (signo == SIGNAL_PAUSE) {
send_signal_to_load_child(SIGSTOP);
printf("Load Paused, waiting for resume signal\n");
while (restart_benchmark == 1 && caughtSignal != SIGNAL_RESUME) {
sigwait (signalsBetweenControllerandLoad, &caughtSignal);
if (caughtSignal == SIGNAL_STOP) {
printf("Load caught stop signal when waiting for resume\n");
stopsignal_handler(caughtSignal);
} else if (caughtSignal != SIGNAL_RESUME) {
printf("Load caught signal %d which is not Resume (%d), keep waiting...\n",caughtSignal,SIGNAL_RESUME);
}
}
if (restart_benchmark[load_ID]) {
send_signal_to_load_child(SIGCONT, load_ID);
printf("Load resumed\n");
}
} else {
printf("Load caught unexpected signal %d.\n",signo);
}
/* reassign signals for compatibility reasons */
signal(SIGNAL_PAUSE, pausesignal_handler);
signal(SIGNAL_RESUME, pausesignal_handler);
}
static void stopsignal_handler(int signo) {
double elapsedTime;
signal(SIGNAL_STOP, stopsignal_handler);
if (signo == SIGNAL_STOP) {
restart_benchmark = 0;
send_signal_to_load_child(SIGINT);
printf("Load stopped.\n");
} else {
printf("catched unexpected stop-signal %d\n",signo);
}
}
void send_signal_to_load_child(int signo) {
int dest_pid;
dest_pid = child_pid;
printf("Error sending %d to Child: PID not set.\n",signo);
kill(dest_pid, signo);
}

C: SIGALRM - alarm to display message every second

So I'm trying to call an alarm to display a message "still working.." every second.
I included signal.h.
Outside of my main I have my function: (I never declare/define s for int s)
void display_message(int s); //Function for alarm set up
void display_message(int s) {
printf("copyit: Still working...\n" );
alarm(1); //for every second
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
}
Then, in my main
while(1)
{
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
alarm(1); //Alarm signal every second.
That's in there as soon as the loop begins. But the program never outputs the 'still working...' message. What am I doing incorrectly? Thank you, ver much appreciated.
Signal handlers are not supposed to contain "business logic" or make library calls such as printf. See C11 ยง7.1.4/4 and its footnote:
Thus, a signal handler cannot, in general, call standard library functions.
All the signal handler should do is set a flag to be acted upon by non-interrupt code, and unblock a waiting system call. This program runs correctly and does not risk crashing, even if some I/O or other functionality were added:
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <unistd.h>
volatile sig_atomic_t print_flag = false;
void handle_alarm( int sig ) {
print_flag = true;
}
int main() {
signal( SIGALRM, handle_alarm ); // Install handler first,
alarm( 1 ); // before scheduling it to be called.
for (;;) {
sleep( 5 ); // Pretend to do something. Could also be read() or select().
if ( print_flag ) {
printf( "Hello\n" );
print_flag = false;
alarm( 1 ); // Reschedule.
}
}
}
Move the calls to signal and alarm to just before your loop. Calling alarm over and over at high speed keeps resetting the alarm to be in one second from that point, so you never reach the end of that second!
For example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>
void display_message(int s) {
printf("copyit: Still working...\n" );
alarm(1); //for every second
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
}
int main(void) {
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
alarm(1);
int n = 0;
while (1) {
++n;
}
return 0;
}
Do not call alarm() twice, just call it once in main() to initiate the callback, then once in display_message().
Try this code on Linux (Debian 7.8) :
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
void display_message(int s); //Function for alarm set up
void display_message(int s)
{
printf("copyit: Still working...\n" );
alarm(1); //for every second
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
}
int main()
{
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
alarm(1); // Initial timeout setting
while (1)
{
pause();
}
}
The result will be the following one :
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
copyit: Still working...
The alarm() call is for a one off signal.
To repeat an alarm, you have to call alarm() again each time the signal occurs.
Another issue, also, is that you're likely to get EINTR errors. Many system functions get interrupted when you receive a signal. This makes for much more complicated programming since many of the OS functions are affected.
In any event, the correct way to wait for the next SIGALRM is to use the pause() function. Something the others have not mentioned (instead they have tight loops, ugly!)
That being said, what you are trying to do would be much easier with a simple sleep() call as in:
// print a message every second (simplified version)
for(;;)
{
printf("My Message\n");
sleep(1);
}
and such a loop could appear in a separate thread. Then you don't need a Unix signal to implement the feat.
Note: The sleep() function is actually implemented using the same timer as the alarm() and it is clearly mentioned that you should not mix both functions in the same code.
sleep(3) may be implemented using SIGALRM; mixing calls to alarm() and sleep(3) is a bad idea.
(From Linux man alarm)
void alarm_handler(int)
{
alarm(1); // recurring alarm
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
signal(SIGALRM, alarm_handler);
alarm(1);
for(;;)
{
printf("My Message\n");
// ...do other work here if needed...
pause();
}
// not reached (use Ctrl-C to exit)
return 0;
}
You can create variations. For example, if you want the first message to happen after 1 second instead of immediately, move the pause() before the printf().
The "other work" comment supposes that your other work does not take more than 1 second.
It is possible to get the alarm signal on a specific thread if work is required in parallel, however, this can be complicated if any other timers are required (i.e. you can't easily share the alarm() timer with other functions.)
P.S. as mentioned by others, doing your printf() inside the signal handler is not a good idea at all.
There is another version where the alarm() is reset inside main() and the first message appears after one second and the loop runs for 60 seconds (1 minute):
void alarm_handler(int)
{
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
signal(SIGALRM, alarm_handler);
for(int seconds(0); seconds < 60; ++seconds)
{
alarm(1);
// ...do other work here if needed...
pause();
printf("My Message\n");
}
// reached after 1 minute
return 0;
}
Note that with this method, the time when the message will be printed is going to be skewed. The time to print your message is added to the clock before you restart the alarm... so it is always going to be a little over 1 second between each call. The other loop is better in that respect but it still is skewed. For a perfect (much better) timer, the poll() function is much better as you can specify when to wake up next. poll() can be used just and only with a timer. My Snap library uses that capability (look for the run() function, near the bottom of the file). In 2019. I moved that one .cpp file to the eventdispatcher library. The run() function is in the communicator.cpp file.
POSIX permits certain of its functions to be called from signal handling context, the async-signal safe functions, search for "async-sgnal safe" here. (These may be understood as "system calls" rather than library calls). Notably, this includes write(2).
So you could do
void
display_message (int s) {
static char const working_message [] = "copyit: Still working...\n";
write (1, working_message, sizeof working_message - sizeof "");
alarm(1); /* for every second */
}
By the way, precise periodic alarms are better implemented using setitimer(2),
since these will not be subject to drift. Retriggering the alarm via software, as done here, will unavoidably accumulate error over time because of the time spent executing the software as well as scheduling latencies.
In POSIX sigaction(2) superceedes signal(2) for good reason:
the original Unix signal handling model was simple. In particular,
a signal handler was reset to its original "deposition" (e.g., terminate
the process) once it was fired. You would have to re-associate
SIGALRM with display_message() by calling signal() just before
calling alarm() in display_message().
An even more important reason for using sigaction(2) is the
SA_RESTART flag. Normally, system calls are interrupted when
a signal handler is invoked. I.e., when then signal handler returns,
the system call returns an error indication (often -1) and errno is
set to EINTR, interrupted system call. (One reason for this
is to be able to use SIGALRM to effect time outs, another is
to have a higher instance, such as a user, to "unblock" the
current process by sending it a signal, e.g.,
SIGINT by pressing control-C at the terminal).
In your case, you want signal handling to be transparent
to the rest of the code, so you would set the SA_RESTART flag
when invoking sigaction(2). This means the kernel should
restart the interrupted system call automatically.
ooga is correct that you keep reloading the alarm so that it will never go off. This works. I just put a sleep in here so you don't keep stepping on yourself in the loop but you might want to substitute something more useful depending on where you are headed with this.
void display_message(int s)
{
printf("copyit: Still working...\n" );
// alarm(1); //for every second
// signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int ret;
while(1)
{
signal(SIGALRM, display_message);
alarm(1);
if ((ret = sleep(3)) != 0)
{
printf("sleep was interrupted by SIGALRM\n");
}
}
return (0);
}

Handling multiple signals

I have a question about handling a signal.
Assume that if we recieve SIGINT signal, we should print "Recieved Signal". If within ten seconds the handler recieves another signal, it should print "Shutting Down" then exit with status 1.
I made my code like this:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>
void handler(int);
void secondhandler(int);
void alrmhandler(int);
void alrmhandler (int alrmsig)
{
alarm(0);
}
void secondhandler(int sig)
{
/* after recieving second signal prints shutting down and exit */
printf("Shutting Down\n");
exit(1);
}
void handler ( int sig )
{
/* recieve first SIGINT signal */
printf ("Recieved Signal\n");
/* handle for the alarm function */
signal(SIGALRM, alrmhandler);
/* start 10s alarm */
alarm(10);
/* catch second SIGINT signal within 10s*/
signal(SIGINT, secondhandler);
}
int main( void )
{
signal(SIGINT, handler);
printf( "Hello World!\n" );
for ( ;; )
{
/* infinite loop */
}
return 0;
}
I tried to compile it with dev c++, but it failed. Because SIGALRM undeclared(first use in this function).
Anyway, what I want to know is if this code is right. I actually kinda not sure with the alrmhandler(). should I ignore the SIGALRM?
If you are on a Windows platform, the only signals you will be able to send are : SIGABRT, SIGFPE, SIGILL, SIGINT, SIGSEGV, or SIGTERM.
You write:
what I want to know is if this code is right.
Not entirely. printf() is not async-signal-safe, and so should not be called from within a signal handler unless you are very sure it is safe to do so. It is not safe to do so within the code you provide.
The alarm() technique is, generally, race-prone. Your ten second alarm might expire in the middle of your secondhandler() function. To guard against this, you might mask out signals to compensate with a more sophisticated signal manipulation function.
There are more elegant/flexible ways of implementing the timeout you desire, but that's perhaps a question better suited for codereview.stackexchange.com.

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