NAME

       pthread_atfork - register handlers to be called at fork(2) time

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pthread.h>

       int pthread_atfork(void (*prepare)(void), void (*parent)(void), void (*child)(void));

DESCRIPTION

       pthread_atfork  registers  handler functions to be called just before and just after a new
       process is created with fork(2). The prepare  handler  will  be  called  from  the  parent
       process,  just  before  the new process is created. The parent handler will be called from
       the parent process, just before fork(2) returns. The child handler will be called from the
       child process, just before fork(2) returns.

       One  or  several  of  the  three  handlers prepare, parent and child can be given as NULL,
       meaning that no handler needs to be called at the corresponding point.

       pthread_atfork can be called several times to install several sets of handlers. At fork(2)
       time, the prepare handlers are called in LIFO order (last added with pthread_atfork, first
       called before fork), while the parent and child handlers are called in FIFO  order  (first
       added, first called).

       To  understand  the  purpose  of  pthread_atfork, recall that fork(2) duplicates the whole
       memory space, including mutexes in their current  locking  state,  but  only  the  calling
       thread:  other  threads  are not running in the child process.  The mutexes are not usable
       after the fork and must be initialized with pthread_mutex_init in the child process.  This
       is  a limitation of the current implementation and might or might not be present in future
       versions.

RETURN VALUE

       pthread_atfork returns 0 on success and a non-zero error code on error.

ERRORS

       ENOMEM insufficient memory available to register the handlers.

AUTHOR

       Xavier Leroy <Xavier.Leroy@inria.fr>

SEE ALSO

       fork(2), pthread_mutex_lock(3), pthread_mutex_unlock(3).

                                           LinuxThreads                         PTHREAD_ATFORK(3)