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Waitpid()
In computer operating systems, a process (or task) may wait on another process to complete its execution. In most systems, a parent process can create an independently executing child process. The parent process may then issue a ''wait'' system call, which suspends the execution of the parent process while the child executes. When the child process terminates, it returns an exit status to the operating system, which is then returned to the waiting parent process. The parent process then resumes execution. Modern operating systems also provide system calls that allow a process's thread to create other threads and wait for them to terminate ("join" them) in a similar fashion. An operating system may provide variations of the ''wait'' call that allow a process to wait for any of its child processes to exit, or to wait for a single specific child process (identified by its process ID) to exit. Some operating systems issue a signal ( SIGCHLD) to the parent process when a child pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exit Status
The exit status of a process in computer programming is a small number passed from a child process (or callee) to a parent process (or caller) when it has finished executing a specific procedure or delegated task. In DOS, this may be referred to as an errorlevel. When computer programs are executed, the operating system creates an abstract entity called a process in which the book-keeping for that program is maintained. In multitasking operating systems such as Unix or Linux, new processes can be created by active processes. The process that spawns another is called a ''parent process'', while those created are ''child processes''. Child processes run concurrently with the parent process. The technique of spawning child processes is used to delegate some work to a child process when there is no reason to stop the execution of the parent. When the child finishes executing, it exits by calling the ''exit'' system call. This system call facilitates passing the exit status code ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signal (computing)
Signals are standardized messages sent to a running program to trigger specific behavior, such as quitting or error handling. They are a limited form of inter-process communication (IPC), typically used in Unix, Unix-like, and other POSIX-compliant operating systems. A signal is an asynchronous notification sent to a process or to a specific thread within the same process to notify it of an event. Common uses of signals are to interrupt, suspend, terminate or kill a process. Signals originated in 1970s Bell Labs Unix and were later specified in the POSIX standard. When a signal is sent, the operating system interrupts the target process' normal flow of execution to deliver the signal. Execution can be interrupted during any non-atomic instruction. If the process has previously registered a signal handler, that routine is executed. Otherwise, the default signal handler is executed. Embedded programs may find signals useful for inter-process communications, as signals are n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zombie Process
On Unix and Unix-like computer operating systems, a zombie process or defunct process is a process that has completed execution (via the exit system call) but still has an entry in the process table: it is a process in the " Terminated state". This occurs for the child processes, where the entry is still needed to allow the parent process to read its child's exit status: once the exit status is read via the wait system call, the zombie's entry is removed from the process table and it is said to be "reaped". A child process always first becomes a zombie before being removed from the resource table. In most cases, under normal system operation zombies are immediately waited on by their parent and then reaped by the system – processes that stay zombies for a long time are generally an error and cause a resource leak, but the only resource they occupy is the process table entry – process ID. The term ''zombie process'' derives from the common definition of zombie — an undea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Process Identifier
In computing, the process identifier (a.k.a. process ID or PID) is a number used by most operating system kernels—such as those of Unix, macOS and Windows—to uniquely identify an active process. This number may be used as a parameter in various function calls, allowing processes to be manipulated, such as adjusting the process's priority or killing it altogether. Unix-like In Unix-like operating systems, new processes are created by the fork() system call. The PID is returned to the parent process, enabling it to refer to the child in further function calls. The parent may, for example, wait for the child to terminate with the waitpid() function, or terminate the process with kill(). There are two tasks with specially distinguished process IDs: ''swapper'' or ''sched'' has process ID 0 and is responsible for paging, and is actually part of the kernel rather than a normal user-mode process. Process ID 1 is usually the init process primarily responsible for starting and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abnormal End
An abnormal end or abend is an abnormal termination of software, or a program crash. This usage derives from an error message from the IBM OS/360, IBM zOS operating systems. Usually capitalized, but may appear as "abend". Some common ABEND codes are ABEND 0C7 (data exception) and ABEND 0CB (division by zero).List of ABEND codes on madisoncollege.edu Abends can be "soft" (allowing automatic recovery) or "hard" (terminating the activity). page 352 Errors or crashes on the network operating system are usually called ABENDs. Communities of NetWare administrators spru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Process (computing)
In computing, a process is the instance of a computer program that is being executed by one or many threads. There are many different process models, some of which are light weight, but almost all processes (even entire virtual machines) are rooted in an operating system (OS) process which comprises the program code, assigned system resources, physical and logical access permissions, and data structures to initiate, control and coordinate execution activity. Depending on the OS, a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently. While a computer program is a passive collection of instructions typically stored in a file on disk, a process is the execution of those instructions after being loaded from the disk into memory. Several processes may be associated with the same program; for example, opening up several instances of the same program often results in more than one process being executed. Multitasking is a method to allow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wait (command)
In Unix shells, wait is a command which pauses until execution of a background process has ended. Usage wait where n is the pid or job ID of a currently executing background process (job). If n is not given, the command waits until all jobs known to the invoking shell have terminated. wait normally returns the exit status of the last job which terminated. It may also return 127 in the event that n specifies a non-existent job or zero if there were no jobs to wait for. Because wait needs to be aware of the job table of the current shell execution environment, it is usually implemented as a shell builtin. Example This command can be useful where part of a script can execute in parallel to implement a barrier where an upcoming section depends on the successful completion of the preceding sections. The following example will fetch the src/ directory from a machine named iona using rsync and simultaneously update the libraries on which this program depends, before building ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spawn (computing)
Spawn in computing refers to a function that loads and executes a new child process. The current process may wait for the child to terminate or may continue to execute concurrent computing. Creating a new subprocess requires enough memory in which both the child process and the current program can execute. There is a family of spawn functions in DOS, inherited by Microsoft Windows. There is also a different family of spawn functions in an optional extension of the POSIX standards . DOS/Windows spawn functions The DOS/Windows spawn functions are inspired by Unix functions fork and exec; however, as these operating systems do not support fork,for Windows NT at least in the Win32 API; POSIX emulation environments such as Cygwin, or SFU do the spawn function was supplied as a replacement for the fork-exec combination. However, the spawn function, although it deals adequately with the most common use cases, lacks the full power of fork-exec, since after fork any process settings whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fork (system Call)
In computing, particularly in the context of the Unix operating system and its workalikes, fork is an operation whereby a process creates a copy of itself. It is an interface which is required for compliance with the POSIX and Single UNIX Specification standards. It is usually implemented as a C Standard Library (libc) wrapper to the fork, clone, or other system calls of the kernel. Fork is the primary method of process creation on Unix-like operating systems. Overview In multitasking operating systems, processes (running programs) need a way to create new processes, e.g. to run other programs. Fork and its variants are typically the only way of doing so in Unix-like systems. For a process to start the execution of a different program, it first forks to create a copy of itself. Then, the copy, called the "child process", calls the exec system call to overlay itself with the other program: it ceases execution of its former program in favor of the other. The fork operation crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orphan Process
An orphan process is a computer process whose parent process has finished or terminated, though it remains running itself. Unix-like In a Unix-like operating system any orphaned process will be immediately adopted by an implementation-defined system process: the kernel sets the parent to this process. This operation is called ''re-parenting'' and occurs automatically. Even though technically the process has a system process as its parent, it is still called an orphan process since the process that originally created it no longer exists. In other systems orphaned processes are immediately terminated by the kernel. Most Unix systems have historically used ''init'' as the system process to which orphans are reparented, but in modern DragonFly BSD, FreeBSD, and Linux systems, an orphan process may be reparented to a "subreaper" process instead of ''init''. A process can be orphaned unintentionally, such as when the parent process terminates or crashes. The process group mechanism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resource Leak
In computer science, a resource leak is a particular type of resource consumption by a computer program where the program does not release resources it has acquired. This condition is normally the result of a bug in a program. Typical resource leaks include memory leak and handle leak, particularly file handle leaks, though memory is often considered separately from other resources. Examples of resources available in limited numbers to the operating system include internet sockets, file handles, process table entries, and process identifiers (PIDs). Resource leaks are often a minor problem, causing at most minor slowdown and being recovered from after processes terminate. In other cases resource leaks can be a major problem, causing resource starvation and severe system slowdown or instability, crashing the leaking process, other processes, or even the system. Resource leaks often go unnoticed under light load and short runtimes, and these problems only manifest themselves under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Process Table
In computing, a process is the instance of a computer program that is being executed by one or many threads. There are many different process models, some of which are light weight, but almost all processes (even entire virtual machines) are rooted in an operating system (OS) process which comprises the program code, assigned system resources, physical and logical access permissions, and data structures to initiate, control and coordinate execution activity. Depending on the OS, a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently. While a computer program is a passive collection of instructions typically stored in a file on disk, a process is the execution of those instructions after being loaded from the disk into memory. Several processes may be associated with the same program; for example, opening up several instances of the same program often results in more than one process being executed. Multitasking is a method to allow mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
