breaking out of a double after an elapsed time in C - c

I have a question I am writing a code that find the perfect number by brute forcing the algorithm which is required by my assignment. I want to see how far the ranges goes in 15 seconds. I tried using a while loop and an alarm but it seems to not work at all. How would I go from there?
Thanks
Heres my code:
#define _POSIX_SOURCE
#define _BSD_SOURCE
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
volatile int stop=0;
void sigalrm_handler( int sig ){
stop = 1;
}
int main(int argc, char **argv){
struct sigaction sact;
int num_sent = 0;
sigemptyset(&sact.sa_mask);
sact.sa_flags = 0;
sact.sa_handler = sigalrm_handler;
sigaction(SIGALRM, &sact, NULL);
alarm(15); /* Request SIGALRM in 60 seconds */
while (!stop) {
for (;;){
for (;;){
}
}
}
printf("%d \n", num_sent);
exit(0);
}

Even if the alarm gets triggered and set stop to a non-zero value you won't notice since your for loop doesn't return to the outer while. You need to apply the condition to all loops that should be stopped:
while (!stop) {
for (;!stop;){
for (;!stop;){
}
}
}
An alternative to alarm is simply checking whether you crossed a certain timepoint:
time_t end = time(0) + 15;
while (end < time(0)) {
for (;end < time(0);){
for (;end < time(0);){
}
}
}

Related

Why do I keep getting segmentation fault in my C program

I've been trying to implement thread synchronization on C. However, I keep getting the segmentation fault when my invoke the function that I want the thread to execute. So anyone can suggest the solution on for this problem?
Here is my code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <semaphore.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#define N 5
#define M 3
#define LEFT (robot_id - 1) % N
#define RIGHT (robot_id + 1) % N
pthread_t robots_id[N];
sem_t simulations[M];
pthread_mutex_t sever_mutex;
void Learning(int robot_id)
{
printf("learning robot = %d\n", robot_id);
}
void *robotAct(void *id)
{
int *robot_id = id;
printf("robot id = %d\n", robot_id);
Learning(*robot_id);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int E, T;
E = atoi(argv[1]);
T = atoi(argv[2]);
printf("Initializing Robot!\n");
//Initializes the simulations
for (int i = 0; i < M; i++)
{
sem_init(&simulations[i], 0, 0);
}
//Initializes the robots
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
printf("Robot %d is created\n", i + 1);
pthread_create(&robots_id[i], NULL, robotAct, (void *)i + 1);
}
sleep(T);
printf("Terminating Robots\n");
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
pthread_cancel(robots_id[i]);
}
printf("Termination is completed!\n");
printf("-------Report-------------\n");
//getReport();
return 0;
}
Here is my result that I keep getting
Initializing Robot!
Robot 1 is created
Robot 2 is created
Robot 3 is created
robot id = 1
robot id = 2
Robot 4 is created
robot id = 3
[1] 54477 segmentation fault ./project 5 10
The main issue is explained in my comment:
You're not passing a valid pointer to the thread function. You sort of, mostly, almost get away with the misuse of it in the printf() call in robotAct(); you emphatically do not get away with it in the call to Learning() where you dereference the invalid non-pointer.
A solution is to create an array of integers in the main program which holds robot ID numbers (int id[N];). Then, initialize each element and pass &id[i] to pthread_create().
You should not print addresses with the %d format (even though it works on 32-bit systems; it does not work on 64-bit systems). The correct technique is to use %p to format the address. Or, in this case, print the integer and not the address using *robot_id.
The code that follows has minimal adaptations to the original code and has not been compiled or tested (there could be problems outside the lines changed):
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <semaphore.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#define N 5
#define M 3
#define LEFT (robot_id - 1) % N
#define RIGHT (robot_id + 1) % N
pthread_t robots_id[N];
sem_t simulations[M];
pthread_mutex_t sever_mutex;
void Learning(int robot_id)
{
printf("learning robot = %d\n", robot_id);
}
void *robotAct(void *id)
{
int *robot_id = id;
printf("robot id = %d\n", *robot_id); // Changed
Learning(*robot_id);
return 0; // Added
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int E, T;
int id[N]; // Added
E = atoi(argv[1]);
T = atoi(argv[2]);
printf("Initializing Robot!\n");
//Initializes the simulations
for (int i = 0; i < M; i++)
{
sem_init(&simulations[i], 0, 0);
}
//Initializes the robots
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
printf("Robot %d is created\n", i + 1);
id[i] = i + 1; // Added
pthread_create(&robots_id[i], NULL, robotAct, &id[i]); // Changed
}
sleep(T);
printf("Terminating Robots\n");
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
pthread_cancel(robots_id[i]);
}
printf("Termination is completed!\n");
printf("-------Report-------------\n");
//getReport();
return 0;
}
Avoid using pthread_cancel() for ending the threads; the threads should terminate under control. For example, there might be a flag that you set in the main thread to indicate that the threads should cease, and they'd check that periodically. Normally, pthread_join() is used to clean up the completed threads.
For future posts, please read about how to create an MCVE (Minimal, Complete, Verifiable Example). There are parts of the code shown that are not relevant to the problem — the mutex and the semaphores, for example, are not really used.

How to "bypass" pthreads limit number

I have a little problem here. I know Linux limits the number of threads of an user can actually run.
I'm using pthread_create and an array of pthread_t limited with 50 ( pthread_t tid[50]; ). I have a for cycle that each time that limit reaches 50 every thread on pthread_t array is killed.
How? I tested almost everything. with pthread_kill(tid[w],SIGKILL); w is a simple cycle control variable goes from 0 to 50. I already tested pthread_cancel(tid[w]); and the problem keeps.
So what is the problem?
Everytime I reach 380 thread number I can't create more. But I'm killing with cancel or kill. So what is happening?
The objective of the program is a network scanner. To be faster I need like 500 threads with like 2 seconds of timeout to test IP's and ports.
Anyone knows how to "go arround" this problem?
I thought that I could kill the thread it would solve the problem but I was wrong :(
Without use ulimit or in /proc/sys/kernel/threads_max changing values, I looked at pthread_attr_setstacksize but I'm a bit confused :P
any ideas?
EDIT
The code as requested :P
I'm going to put ALL code here:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>
#ifndef SOL_TCP
#define SOL_TCP 6
#endif
#ifndef TCP_USER_TIMEOUT
#define TCP_USER_TIMEOUT 18 //retry
#endif
#define MAX_TH 250
struct ar_stc{
char* ip;
int port;
};
char* ret[2];
int porar[2];
pthread_t tid[MAX_TH];
void create_port_scan_th(char* host,int p,int j);
//cares about args.
//this is not helpful for the threads post on stackoverflow. skip this function
char** arguments_handle(int argc,char **arg)
{
char p[]="-p";
char h[]="-h";
size_t _p,_h;
_p=(size_t)strlen(p);
_h=(size_t)strlen(h);
if(argc!=5)
{
printf("Usage:./file -p PORT-RANGE -h HOST.IP\n");
exit(1);
}
if(strncmp(arg[1],p,_p)==0 || strncmp(arg[1],h,_h)==0 && strncmp(arg[3],p,_p)==0 || strncmp(arg[3],h,_h)==0)
{
if(strncmp(arg[1],p,_p)==0)
{
strncpy(ret[0],arg[2],strlen(arg[2]));
}
else
{
strncpy(ret[1],arg[2],strlen(arg[2]));
}
if(strncmp(arg[3],h,_h)==0)
{
strncpy(ret[1],arg[4],strlen(arg[4]));
}
else
{
strncpy(ret[0],arg[4],strlen(arg[4]));
}
}
return ret;
}
int* take_ports(char *arg)
{
char* ports[2];
ports[0] = malloc(5);
ports[1] = malloc(5);
memset(ports[0],0,5);
memset(ports[1],0,5);
char tmp[5];
int len = strlen(arg);
int i,j=0,x=0;
char min_p[5],max_p[5];
for(i=0;i<len;i++)
{
if(arg[i]=='-')
{
min_p[x]='\0';
j=1;
x=0;
continue;
}
else
{
if(j==0)
min_p[x]=arg[i];
else
max_p[x]=arg[i];
}
x++;
}
max_p[x]='\0';
porar[1]=atoi(max_p);
porar[0]=atoi(min_p);
free(ports[0]);
free(ports[1]);
return porar;
}
void *check_port(void* ar_p)
{
struct ar_stc *ar =ar_p;
char* ip = ar->ip;
int port = ar->port;
int s,conexao;
int timeout = 1000; //1 second timeout
s=socket(AF_INET,SOCK_STREAM,0);
struct sockaddr_in dst;
setsockopt(s,SOL_TCP,TCP_USER_TIMEOUT,(char*)&timeout,sizeof(timeout)); //NOT WORKING :(
if(s<0)
{
printf("\nCouldnt create socket\nPremissions maybe?\n");
exit(1);
}
dst.sin_family = AF_INET;
dst.sin_port = htons(port);
dst.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(ip);
bzero(&(dst.sin_zero),8);
//printf("\nChecking: %d...",port);
conexao = connect(s,(struct sockaddr*)&dst,sizeof(dst));
if(conexao <0)
{
printf("TCP/%d:CLOSED!\n",port); //just to make sure the thread is running
close(s);
return;
}
else
{
printf("TCP/%d:OPEN!\n",port);
close(s);
return;
}
}
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int open_ports[65535];
int open_ports_count=0;
int min_p,max_p;
int* p;
ret[0] = malloc(20);
ret[1] = malloc(20);
memset(ret[0],0,20);
memset(ret[1],0,20);
char** ipnport;
ipnport = arguments_handle(argc,argv);
printf("The IP is :%s and the range is %s\n",ipnport[1],ipnport[0]);
p=take_ports(ipnport[0]);
min_p=p[0];
max_p=p[1];
printf("Min port:%d e max port:%d\n",min_p,max_p);
int i;
int thread_count=-1;
for(i=min_p;i<=max_p;i++)
{
thread_count++;
create_port_scan_th(ipnport[1],i,thread_count);
if(thread_count>=MAX_TH)
{
sleep(1);
thread_count=0;
int w;
for(w=0;w<=MAX_TH;w++)
{
pthread_kill(tid[w],SIGKILL);
}
}
}
free(ret[0]);
free(ret[1]);
return 0x0;
}
void create_port_scan_th(char* host,int p,int j)
{
int error;
struct ar_stc *ar;
ar = malloc(sizeof(*ar));
ar->ip=host;
ar->port=p;
error = pthread_create(&(tid[j]),NULL,&check_port,(void*)ar);
if(error!=0)
printf("\nError creating thread:%s\n",strerror(error));
}
But I'm killing with cancel or kill.
First of all, pthread_kill does not kill or end a thread.
(see more at pthread_kill doesnt kill thread C linux or When to use pthread_cancel and not pthread_kill).
If you send SIGKILL to a thread, the entire process will end.
To end a thread, you need to
Make the thread end.
by returning from the thread function, or
calling pthread_exit or
pthread_cancel the thread
Dispose the resources tied to the thread by:
Call pthread_join() on the thread or
make the thread a detached thread.
If you opt for the last point by making the thread detached - which will automatically release the thread when it ends , you can call pthread_detach(pthread_Self()) at the start of your thread function.
Or supply a pthread_attr_t when you call pthread_create(), where you set the thread to a detached state.
As for the total number of threads you can use, linux have a limit on the total number of threads/processes any user can have running.
You can view this with the command ulimit -u

How to implement a timer in c?

We want to add a timer to our C program under Linux platform.
We are trying to send the packets and we want to find out how many packets get sent in 1 minute. We want the timer to run at the same time as the while loop for sending the packet is being executed. For example:
while(1)
{
send packets;
}
This loop will keep on sending the packets until ctrl-z is pressed. The timer should be used to stop the loop after 60 seconds.
You could do something like this:
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
volatile int stop=0;
void sigalrm_handler( int sig )
{
stop = 1;
}
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct sigaction sact;
int num_sent = 0;
sigemptyset(&sact.sa_mask);
sact.sa_flags = 0;
sact.sa_handler = sigalrm_handler;
sigaction(SIGALRM, &sact, NULL);
alarm(60); /* Request SIGALRM in 60 seconds */
while (!stop) {
send_a_packet();
num_sent++;
}
printf("sent %d packets\n", num_sent);
exit(0);
}
If loop overhead turns out to be excessive, you could amortize the overhead by sending N packets per iteration and incrementing the count by N each iteration.
Just check the time on every iteration of the loop and when 1 minute has elapsed, count how many packets you have sent.
Edit changed to reflect what the question actually asks!
time_t startTime = time(); // return current time in seconds
int numPackets = 0;
while (time() - startTime < 60)
{
send packet
numPackets++;
}
printf("Sent %d packets\n", numPackets);
Can also check this http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Setting-an-Alarm.html to set timers which will send signals to your process and you can stop the while loop.
Look at the standard time() function.
Here is code snippet of itimer that can be used for different time intervals on C with linux platform:
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
void timer_handler (int signum)
{
static int count = 0;
printf ("timer expired %d times\n", ++count);
}
int main ()
{
struct sigaction sa;
struct itimerval timer;
/* Install timer_handler as the signal handler for SIGVTALRM. */
memset (&sa, 0, sizeof (sa));
sa.sa_handler = &timer_handler;
sigaction (SIGVTALRM, &sa, NULL);
/* Configure the timer to expire after 1 sec... */
timer.it_value.tv_sec = 1;
timer.it_value.tv_usec = 0;
/* ... and every 1000 msec after that. */
timer.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
timer.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
/* Start a virtual timer. It counts down whenever this process is
* executing. */
setitimer (ITIMER_VIRTUAL, &timer, NULL);
/* Do busy work. */
while (1);
sleep(1);
}
hope it will help.
Use wheetimer (and its variant) data structures to implement timers.
man 3 sleep:
NAME
sleep - Sleep for the specified number of seconds
SYNOPSIS
#include < unistd.h >
unsigned int sleep(unsigned int seconds);

Calling a function at exact every second using a timer?

I need to call a function every second exactly as I want to store the data based on the every second so I cannot miss the second? What is best method in C?
Below is a skeleton of the timer_create method is this reliable enough?
#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <signal.h>
timer_t gTimerid;
void start_timer(void)
{
struct itimerspec value;
value.it_value.tv_sec = 1;
value.it_value.tv_nsec = 0;
value.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
value.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
timer_create (CLOCK_REALTIME, NULL, &gTimerid);
timer_settime (gTimerid, 0, &value, NULL);
}
void stop_timer(void)
{
struct itimerspec value;
value.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
value.it_value.tv_nsec = 0;
value.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
value.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
timer_settime (gTimerid, 0, &value, NULL);
}
void timer_callback(int sig)
{
printf(" Catched timer signal: %d ... !!\n", sig);
}
int main(int ac, char **av)
{
(void) signal(SIGALRM, timer_callback);
start_timer();
while(1);
}
On Linux and other POSIX systems, timer_create is the function you're looking for. Set the timer to be delivered via a signal and it will be very reliable. Don't use the older ualarm or setitimer apis which are deprecated and have various ugly issues that you probably don't want to get into unless you're already an expert on realtime unix stuff...
You have two options to call a function every other second:
Do a "busy wait"
Make your process/thread sleep for an amount of time
The first option is definitely more accurate but a lot more CPU consumptive and less responsive. It can simply be done with a while or for loop.
Here a small example of how this busy-wait loop might look like:
#include <time.h>
#define TIME_TO_WAIT 1 /* wait for one second */
...
clock_t last = clock();
while(1) {
clock_t current = clock();
if (current >= (last + TIME_TO_WAIT * CLOCKS_PER_SEC)) {
yourSpecialFunction(); /* insert your function here */
last = current;
}
}
The second option is maybe less accurate (since your process may wait a little less or more than the specified time) but it is the preferred option in terms of multiprocessing and scheduling. You can use your systems sleep()/usleep()/Sleep() (depends on your system) function for it. Alternatively you can use signals.
ualarm() is probably the simplest way of doing this. As others have mentioned, perfect accuracy isn't guaranteed, but the resolution is likely sufficient.
void each_sec(int x)
{
printf("%d", (int)time(NULL));
}
int main()
{
signal(SIGALRM, each_sec);
ualarm(1000000, 1000000);
}
I used signal for clarity, but sigaction/sigprocmask is more portable and featureful.
on Unix/Linux, you can use a timer, here's an example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
int limit = 10;
/* signal process */
void timeout_info(int signo)
{
if(limit == 0)
{
printf("Sorry, time limit reached.\n");
exit(0);
}
printf("only %d senconds left.\n", limit--);
}
/* init sigaction */
void init_sigaction(void)
{
struct sigaction act;
act.sa_handler = timeout_info;
act.sa_flags = 0;
sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
sigaction(SIGPROF, &act, NULL);
}
/* init */
void init_time(void)
{
struct itimerval val;
val.it_value.tv_sec = 1;
val.it_value.tv_usec = 0;
val.it_interval = val.it_value;
setitimer(ITIMER_PROF, &val, NULL);
}
int main(void)
{
char *str;
char c;
init_sigaction();
init_time();
printf("You have only 10 seconds for thinking.\n");
while(1);
exit(0);
}
substitute your own function for timeout_info
On Linux it is very common to use select() for timing. This way you can also be notified about file descriptors activity.
You need to have a struct timeval for interval and pass it as the last argument of select.

Need help applying timer in C in Linux

I want to create a timer in our C program so that it can print the variable after every 1 second.
Can anybody help me in doing this?
Don't use busy waiting, because you've got 100% CPU utilization.
You must use system function which turns process into sleeping mode for example select():
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/select.h>
void your_callback()
{
printf("%s\n", __FUNCTION__);
}
int main()
{
struct timeval t;
while (1) {
t.tv_sec = 1;
t.tv_usec = 0;
select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &t);
your_callback();
}
return 0;
}
If all you are interested in doing is printing the value of a variable at a one second interval, using time(2) or clock(3) as suggested in the other answers might suffice. In general, I would not recommend these busy-waiting techniques.
If your program is more complex, I suggest you investigate using the alarm(2) or settimer(2) function to asynchronously deliver a signal to your application at a one second interval.
The following example uses select(2) to block indefinitely in order to minimize CPU usage associated with busy-waiting techniques. The blocking select() call is interrupted and returns when a signal is caught. In the case of the SIGALRM signal, the print_variable flag is set and the value of variable is printed.
Example 1: using alarm()
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/select.h>
#include <unistd.h>
volatile unsigned int variable = 0;
volatile unsigned int print_variable = 0;
void alarm_handler(int signum)
{
variable++;
print_variable = 1;
alarm(1);
}
int main()
{
signal(SIGALRM, alarm_handler);
alarm(1);
for (;;)
{
select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
if (print_variable)
{
printf("Variable = %u\n", variable);
}
}
}
Note: Error checking was omitted from the above code for simplicity.
A printf() function could have been called inside the SIGALRM handler, but calling non-reentrant functions in a signal handler is generally discouraged.
A timeout of one second can also be passed to select(), but if it were interrupted by any signal, additional logic is necessary to ensure that the remainder of the one second timeout is honored. Fortunately on Linux, select() modifies the timeout value to reflect the amount of time not slept. This allows interruption cases to be detected followed by subsequent call(s) select() to complete the timeout.
Example 2: using select()
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/select.h>
volatile unsigned int variable = 0;
int main()
{
struct timeval tv;
int val;
for (;;)
{
tv.tv_sec = 1;
tv.tv_usec = 0;
do
{
val = select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &tv);
} while (val != 0 && errno == EINTR);
printf("Variable = %u\n", ++variable);
}
}
If you want only second precision. Use time(0) which returns current time if time.h is included.
update:
Adding simple example which prints 10 in every second during 20 seconds:
#include <time.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 10;
int num = 20;
int c = time(0);
while(n--)
{
printf("%d\n", a);
while(!(time(0) - c));
c = time(0);
}
return 0;
}
use time(0) see this example
/* timer.c */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>
void delay_sec( int seconds ){
clock_t endwait;
endwait = clock () + seconds * CLOCKS_PER_SEC;
while (clock() < endwait) {}
}
int main (void){
time_t rawtime, ini_time, now;
struct tm *ptm;
time ( &ini_time );
for(;;){
time ( &rawtime );
//ptm = gmtime ( &rawtime );
//printf ("%2d:%02d:%02d\n", ptm_2->tm_hour, ptm_2->tm_min, ptm_2->tm_sec);
now = rawtime - ini_time;
ptm = gmtime ( &now );
printf ("%2d:%02d:%02d\n", ptm->tm_hour, ptm->tm_min, ptm->tm_sec);
delay_sec(1);
}
return 0;
}
I believe you know 1000 Milliseconds equals to 1 Second.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>
#define mydelay 1000
void delay(int mseconds)
{
clock_t wait = mseconds + clock();
while (wait > clock());
}
int main()
{
int i=100;
while(1)
{
printf("%d\n",i);
delay(mydelay);
}
return 0;
}
A simple example which prints the value of the variable a for every 1 sec:
#include<stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
int a = 10;
while(a--)
{
printf("Value of a = %d\n", a);
sleep(1);
}
}
Output:
Value of a = 9
...
value of a = 0

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