trusty (3) abort.3posix.gz

NAME

       abort - generate an abnormal process abort

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       void abort(void);

DESCRIPTION

       The  abort()  function  shall  cause  abnormal process termination to occur, unless the signal SIGABRT is
       being caught and the signal handler does not return.

       The abnormal termination processing shall include the default actions defined for SIGABRT and may include
       an attempt to effect fclose() on all open streams.

       The  SIGABRT  signal  shall  be  sent  to the calling process as if by means of raise() with the argument
       SIGABRT.

       The status made available to wait() or waitpid() by abort() shall be that of a process terminated by  the
       SIGABRT signal.  The abort() function shall override blocking or ignoring the SIGABRT signal.

RETURN VALUE

       The abort() function shall not return.

ERRORS

       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       Catching  the  signal  is  intended  to  provide  the  application  writer with a portable means to abort
       processing, free from possible interference from any implementation-defined functions.

RATIONALE

       The  ISO/IEC 9899:1999  standard  requires  the  abort()  function   to   be   async-signal-safe.   Since
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 defers to the ISO C standard, this required a change to the DESCRIPTION from ``shall
       include the effect of fclose()'' to ``may include an attempt to effect fclose().''

       The revised wording permits some backwards-compatibility and avoids a potential deadlock situation.

       The Open Group Base Resolution bwg2002-003 is applied, removing the following XSI shaded  paragraph  from
       the DESCRIPTION:

       ``On  XSI-conformant systems, in addition the abnormal termination processing shall include the effect of
       fclose() on message catalog descriptors.''

       There were several reasons to remove this paragraph:

        * No special processing of open message catalogs  needs  to  be  performed  prior  to  abnormal  process
          termination.

        * The  main  reason to specifically mention that abort() includes the effect of fclose() on open streams
          is to flush output queued on  the  stream.  Message  catalogs  in  this  context  are  read-only  and,
          therefore, do not need to be flushed.

        * The  effect  of  fclose() on a message catalog descriptor is unspecified.  Message catalog descriptors
          are allowed, but not required to be implemented using a file descriptor, but there is  no  mention  in
          IEEE Std 1003.1-2001  of a message catalog descriptor using a standard I/O stream FILE object as would
          be expected by fclose().

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       exit() ,  kill()  ,  raise()  ,  signal()  ,  wait()  ,  waitpid()  ,  the  Base  Definitions  volume  of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition,
       Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open  Group  Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
       Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the  original  IEEE  and
       The  Open  Group  Standard,  the  original  IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .