NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     _exit - terminate the calling process

LIBRARY    [Toc]    [Back]

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <unistd.h>

     void
     _exit(int status);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The _exit() function terminates a process with the following consequences:


     +o   All of the descriptors open in the calling process are closed.  This
         may entail delays, for example, waiting for output to drain; a process
 in this state may not be killed, as it is already dying.

     +o   If the parent process of the calling process has an outstanding
         wait(2) call or catches the SIGCHLD signal, it is notified of the
         calling process's termination and the status is set as defined by
         wait(2).

     +o   The parent process-ID of all of the calling process's existing child
         processes are set to 1; the initialization process (see the DEFINITIONS
 section of intro(2)) inherits each of these processes.

     +o   If the termination of the process causes any process group to become
         orphaned (usually because the parents of all members of the group
         have now exited; see ``orphaned process group'' in intro(2)), and if
         any member of the orphaned group is stopped, the SIGHUP signal and
         the SIGCONT signal are sent to all members of the newly-orphaned process
 group.

     +o   If the process is a controlling process (see intro(2)), the SIGHUP
         signal is sent to the foreground process group of the controlling
         terminal, and all current access to the controlling terminal is
         revoked.

     Most C programs call the library routine exit(3), which flushes buffers,
     closes streams, unlinks temporary files, etc., before calling _exit().

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     _exit() can never return.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     fork(2), sigaction(2), wait(2), exit(3)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The _exit() function conforms to ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (``POSIX.1'').

BSD                              June 4, 1993                              BSD