Why thread function not invoking? ( SIGEV_THREAD ) - c

I have a program where i invoke a signal sigkill(getpid(), SIGUSR1). I wish when the signal comes, instead of the signal handler the thread function should be invoked, or both.
For this i have populated the sigev_notify with SIGEV_THREAD.
But unfortunately, the thread function is not called. Why is it so?
Here is the code below:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
static void ThreadhandlerTimer1(int);
void sig_handlerTimer1(int);
static void threadFunction(union sigval sv) // Should be invoked on receipt of signal "SIGEV_THREAD"
{
printf("Thread function invoked");
}
int main()
{
int i;
static struct sigaction sa;
static struct sigevent sevp;
memset (&sevp, 0, sizeof (struct sigevent));
sevp.sigev_value.sival_ptr = NULL;
sevp.sigev_notify = SIGEV_THREAD;
sevp.sigev_notify_attributes = NULL;
sevp.sigev_signo = SIGUSR1;
sevp.sigev_notify_function=threadFunction;
/* Setting the signal handlers */
sa.sa_handler = sig_handlerTimer1;
sa.sa_flags = 0;
sigaction(SIGUSR1, &sa, NULL);
for(i=0; i<10; i++)
{
if((i==3) || (i==6)){
kill(getpid(), SIGUSR1);
}
printf("%d\n",i);
sleep(1);
}
}
void sig_handlerTimer1(int signum)
{
printf("Caught signal: %d\n",signum);
}

According to this documentation, the sigevent structure is only supported by "Some signal-generating functions, such as high-resolution timer expiration, asynchronous I/O completion, interprocess message arrival, and the sigqueue() function."
I don't know what your real plan for this code is (maybe you can tell us), but as it is, you are raising the signal directly which probably is not one of the supported cases for using SIGEV. If this code is fairly close to what you want in production you could simply call sigqueue() instead of kill() and it may just work.

From your code, it seems you have just assigned values to sigevent, instead of using any where in code.
static struct sigevent sevp;
memset (&sevp, 0, sizeof (struct sigevent));
sevp.sigev_value.sival_ptr = NULL;
sevp.sigev_notify = SIGEV_THREAD;
sevp.sigev_notify_attributes = NULL;
sevp.sigev_signo = SIGUSR1;
sevp.sigev_notify_function=threadFunction;
To invoke threadFunction, call this from your signal handler.
> void sig_handlerTimer1(int signum)
> {
> printf("Caught signal: %d\n",signum);
> threadFunction(signum);
> }
If you want to use sevp, use something like timer_create() and timer_settime().
Check this link:
http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0201633922/sourcecode/sigev_thread.c

Related

Calling thread create function in C

If I use the pthread_create() call in an infinite while loop in main, does it create multiple threads each time or will it only create the 2 threads that I need?
while(1){
pthread_create(&thread_1...);
pthread_create(&thread_2...);
}
it creates multiple threads each time.
you can use pthread_cancel to cancel any thread from the process.
Below is one of many ways to handle the termination of thread upon some event/timeout etc..
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h> // for sigaction
#include <stdlib.h> // for exit and
#include <pthread.h> // for pthread
#include <string.h> // for memset
#define TIMEOUT 10
pthread_t tid1, tid2;
void* thread_function1(void *arg)
{
while(1)
{
printf(" thread_function1 invoked\n");
sleep(1); //avoid heavy prints
}
}
void* thread_function2(void *arg)
{
while(1)
{
printf(" thread_function2 invoked\n");
sleep(1); //avoid heavy prints
}
}
static void timer_handler(int sig, siginfo_t *siginfo, void *context)
{
printf("Inside handler function timeout happened \n");
if( sig == SIGALRM)
{
pthread_cancel(tid1);
pthread_cancel(tid2);
//exit(0); to exit from main
}
}
int main()
{
int count = 0;
void *status;
struct sigaction act;
memset (&act, '\0', sizeof(act));
sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
/* Use the sa_sigaction field because the handles has two additional parameters */
act.sa_sigaction = timer_handler;
/* The SA_SIGINFO flag tells sigaction() to use the sa_sigaction field, not sa_handler. */
act.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
if (sigaction(SIGALRM, &act, NULL) < 0)
{
perror ("sigaction SIGALRM");
return 1;
}
alarm (TIMEOUT);
pthread_create(&tid1,NULL,thread_function1,NULL);
pthread_create(&tid2,NULL,thread_function2,NULL);
pthread_join(tid1,NULL);
pthread_join(tid2,NULL);
printf(" MIAN ENDS ...BYE BYE \n");
return 0;
}

Unable to reassign signal handler second time

I have a simple code which uses two signal handlers for "Segmentation fault" signal. First one works when signal happens and after longjmp, I do reassigning of handler with second one for that signal. Unfortunately, the flow of code doesn't reach necessary handler and I still get "Segmentation fault".
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/syscall.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <setjmp.h>
int i;
int ci;
jmp_buf m_env_buffer;
jmp_buf max_env_buffer;
void handler(int signum){
printf("sigsegv on i:[%d]", i);
ci = (++i);
longjmp(m_env_buffer,1);
}
void top_handler(int signum){
printf("sigsegv on max i:[%d]", i);
longjmp(max_env_buffer,10);
}
int main(void) {
signal(SIGSEGV, handler);
char * pstart = "loremipsum";
int m_cell = 0;
char m_cell_v;
int point;
point = setjmp(m_env_buffer);
if(point == 0){
for(i=0; ;i--){
m_cell_v = pstart[i];
}
}
//this wasn't invoked
signal(SIGSEGV, top_handler);
point = setjmp(max_env_buffer);
if(point == 0){
for(i=ci; ;i++){
char cur = pstart[i];
if(cur==10)
printf("\n");
printf("%c",cur);
}
}
puts("finish");
return 0;
}
signal() should not be used. It has unreliable semantics. On your system the default action (termination) is performed when the second SIGSEGV is received. The second call to signal() has effectively no effect.
You should use sigaction() instead. In your case you can use the following function instead of signal():
void set_signal (int signum, void (*handler)(int))
{
struct sigaction act;
act.sa_handler = handler;
sigemptyset (&act.sa_mask);
act.sa_flags = SA_NODEFER;
act.sa_restorer = NULL;
sigaction (signum, &act, NULL);
}
In the future, read the documentation at your disposal. A good ressource is the glibc manual. It has a good chapter on signal handling.

timer_create() not able to catch a signal in handler function

Here i am trying achieve a timer say 0-10secs and an interval of 2secs each,so that i need to generate an interrupt # every 2secs(total 5 times) saying 2secs completed. which i have been cross checking in handler() function by using printf(). But i am not able to achieve the desired result.please put me touch if anyone is aware of it.
Thanks in advance.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <time.h>
#define SIGTIMER (SIGRTMAX)
#define errExit(msg) do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \
} while (0)
void handler(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *uc)
{
printf("Caught signal %d\n", sig);
}
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
timer_t timerid;
struct sigevent sev;
struct itimerspec its;
struct itimerspec oitval;
struct sigaction sa;
/* Establish handler for timer signal */
printf("Establishing handler for signal %d\n", SIGTIMER);
sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
sa.sa_sigaction = handler;
sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
if (sigaction(SIGTIMER, &sa, NULL) == -1)
errExit("sigaction");
/* Create the timer */
sev.sigev_notify = SIGEV_SIGNAL;
sev.sigev_signo = SIGTIMER;
sev.sigev_value.sival_ptr = &timerid;
if (timer_create(CLOCK_REALTIME, &sev, &timerid) == 0)
{
printf("timer ID is 0x%lx\n", (long) timerid);
/* Start the timer */
its.it_value.tv_sec = 10;
its.it_value.tv_nsec =0;
its.it_interval.tv_sec = 2;
its.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
if (timer_settime(timerid, 0, &its, &oitval) == -1)
errExit("timer_settime");
}
else
{
errExit("timer_create");
}
return 0;
}
First of all you should properly setup timeouts:
/* Start the timer */
its.it_value.tv_sec = 2;
its.it_value.tv_nsec = 0;
its.it_interval.tv_sec = 2;
its.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
it_value is the duration before first triggering, and it_interval is time between all subsequent triggerings. See here. Then, you shouldn't return from main() due it leads to process exit and you won't be able to observe timer ticks. You need to block execution somehow, e.g.
while(1) sleep(INT_MAX);
After each tick sleep() returns with errno set to EINTR so it should we wrapped into loop to allow timer to go ahead. Later you can decide when to leave this loop and exit.
P.S. Using printf() from signal handler is not a good idea. You should be very carefully with what you are doing there. It would be better just to write to some global variable and immediately return. And that var may be tested immediately after sleep() giving you an idea if you should sleep again or return.

Timer freezes after some time

I am running the following program which implements a timer. When a thread awake after receiving a signal on condition variable from the previous running thread, it creates a timer and send a signal to the next thread on timer expiration. I want it to run for some time, but the timer stops ticking after some runs.
//Import
#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 199309
#include <sched.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <errno.h>
#define NUM_THREADS 10
#define CLOCKID CLOCK_REALTIME
#define SIG SIGUSR1
timer_t timerid;
pthread_cond_t condA[NUM_THREADS+1] = PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER;
pthread_mutex_t mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
pthread_t tid[NUM_THREADS];
int state = 0;
static void handler(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *uc)
{
if(si->si_value.sival_ptr != &timerid){
printf("Stray signal\n");
} else {
//printf("Caught signal %d from timer\n", sig);
}
pthread_cond_signal(&condA[state]);
}
void *threadA(void *data_)
{
int i = 0, s;
long int loopNum, j;
int turn = (intptr_t)data_;
struct timeval tval_result;
// Timer's part starts
struct sigevent sev;
struct itimerspec its;
long long freq_nanosecs;
sigset_t mask;
struct sigaction sa;
// TImer'spart ends
while(1)
{
/* Wait for state A */
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
for (;state != turn;)
{
s = pthread_cond_wait(&condA[turn], &mutex);
if (s != 0)
perror("pthread_cond_wait");
// printf("main(): state = %d\n", state);
}
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
//do stuff
for(j=0;j<10000;j++)
{//some dummy time consuming works}
sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
sa.sa_sigaction = handler;
sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
sigaction(SIG, &sa, NULL);
sev.sigev_notify = SIGEV_SIGNAL;
sev.sigev_signo = SIG;
sev.sigev_value.sival_ptr = &timerid;
timer_create(CLOCKID, &sev, &timerid);
/* Start the timer */
its.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
its.it_value.tv_nsec = 2000;
its.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
its.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
timer_settime(timerid, 0, &its, NULL);
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
state = (state +1)%NUM_THREADS;
//pthread_cond_signal(&condA[state]);
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
// Timer's code ends
}
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int data = 0;
int err;
while(data < NUM_THREADS)
{
//create our threads
err = pthread_create(&tid[data], NULL, threadA, (void *)(intptr_t)data);
if(err != 0)
printf("\ncan't create thread :[%s]", strerror(err));
else
// printf("\n Thread created successfully\n");
data++;
}
pthread_exit(NULL);
}
Although no printf statements are executing, why is it freezing after some time?
If no. of timers are limited, what other strategy should I use to redress this issue?
POSIX says:
It is not safe to use the pthread_cond_signal() function in a signal handler that is invoked asynchronously.
Most likely you end up corrupting the state of pthread_cond_wait/pthread_cond_signal and anything can happen.
Don't mix threads and signal handlers, it leads only to madness. There are very few things you're allowed to do inside a signal handler, even fewer that are thread related, it's very hard to ensure that the right thread ends up handling the right signal, etc.
If you're doing threads anyway implement a timer in one thread that calculates how much time it needs to sleep to deliver the next event (don't just hardcode it to your timer period since that will make your timer drift), sleep that much and call pthread_cond_signal.
Also, it's bad form to have naked pthread_cond_signal calls and most often a bug. You might get unlucky and call it just before the other thread does the pthread_cond_wait and your signal will get lost. The normal thing to do is to set a variable (protected by a mutex, that's why pthread_cond_signal wants a mutex) and then signal that the variable is set.
If you think this is too much work, condition variables are probably not the right mechanism in this case and you should use semaphores instead. Incidentally sem_post is legal to call from a signal handler according to POSIX, but I still think it's a bad idea to mix threads with signals.

Is it possible to use both custom sigaction signal handler and pthread_sigmask?

I am implementing a simple timer that throws a RT signal upon expiration. What I want to do is to register a signal handler (using sigaction) that gets called when the signal occurs. Meanwhile the main code waits until the signal is called using sigwaitinfo.
Implementing either a signal handler or sigwaitinfo exclusively works fine. However when both are used, the signal handler is never called. I tried switching the order; i.e. registering the handler before blocking the signal. Makes no difference.
Here is the code
// gcc -Wall -o sigwait_example sigwait_example.c -lrt
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#define install_handler(sig,sa) if( sigaction(sig, &sa, NULL) == -1 ){ \
perror("sigaction"); }
#define SIG SIGRTMIN+1
volatile int flag=0;
void handler(int signum){
flag++;
}
int main(void){
struct itimerspec its;
sigset_t blocked;
siginfo_t si;
timer_t timerid;
struct sigevent evt;
struct sigaction sa;
evt.sigev_notify = SIGEV_SIGNAL;
evt.sigev_signo = SIG;
evt.sigev_value.sival_ptr = &timerid;
if ( timer_create(CLOCK_REALTIME, &evt, &timerid) ){
perror("timer_create");
}
//setup timer
its.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
its.it_value.tv_nsec = 0.1*1E9;
its.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
its.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
//arm the timer
if ( timer_settime(timerid, 0, &its, NULL) )
perror("timer_settime");
sigemptyset(&blocked);
sigaddset(&blocked, SIG);
//add SIG to blocked signals
pthread_sigmask(SIG_BLOCK, &blocked, NULL);
sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO; //use this flag to set custom handler
sa.sa_sigaction = handler;
sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
install_handler(SIG,sa);
while ( sigwaitinfo(&blocked, &si) == -1 && errno == EINTR );
printf("received signal: %s, flag=%d\n",strsignal(si.si_signo),flag);
//while(flag==0) sleep(1); //use this when only signal handler is used
timer_delete(timerid);
return 0;
}
I am doing this mostly for educational purposes, since I need to learn as much as possible about how threads are sent/blocked as I will be using them in threads.
It's not possible because sigwaitinfo() removes the signal from the queue.
You can, however, use sigaction(SIG, NULL, &sa) to retrieve the sigaction struct of this signal and execute the handler.

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