NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     _exit - terminate the calling process

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  open  file  descriptors 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 status is set  as  defined by
         wait(2).   (Note that typically only the lower 8 bits of
status are
         passed on to the parent, thus negative values have  less
meaning.)

     +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 and
SIGCONT signals
 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., and then
calls _exit().

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     _exit() can never return.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     fork(2), intro(2), sigaction(2), wait(2), _Exit(3), exit(3),
sysexits(3)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The  _exit()  function  is  defined  by IEEE Std 1003.1-1988
(``POSIX'').

OpenBSD      3.6                           June      4,      1993