xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/getcontext.3 (revision 397e83df75e0fcd0d3fcb95ae4d794cb7600fc89)
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36.Dd March 23, 2020
37.Dt GETCONTEXT 3
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm getcontext , getcontextx , setcontext
41.Nd get and set user thread context
42.Sh LIBRARY
43.Lb libc
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.In ucontext.h
46.Ft int
47.Fn getcontext "ucontext_t *ucp"
48.Ft ucontext_t *
49.Fn getcontextx "void"
50.Ft int
51.Fn setcontext "const ucontext_t *ucp"
52.Sh DESCRIPTION
53The
54.Fn getcontext
55function
56saves the current thread's execution context in the structure pointed to by
57.Fa ucp .
58This saved context may then later be restored by calling
59.Fn setcontext .
60.Pp
61The
62.Fn getcontextx
63function saves the current execution context in the newly allocated structure
64.Vt ucontext_t ,
65which is returned on success.
66If architecture defines additional CPU states that can be stored in extended
67blocks referenced from the
68.Vt ucontext_t ,
69the memory for them may be allocated and their context also stored.
70Memory returned by
71.Fn getcontextx
72function shall be freed using
73.Fn free 3 .
74.Pp
75The
76.Fn setcontext
77function
78makes a previously saved thread context the current thread context, i.e.,
79the current context is lost and
80.Fn setcontext
81does not return.
82Instead, execution continues in the context specified by
83.Fa ucp ,
84which must have been previously initialized by a call to
85.Fn getcontext ,
86.Xr makecontext 3 ,
87or by being passed as an argument to a signal handler (see
88.Xr sigaction 2 ) .
89.Pp
90If
91.Fa ucp
92was initialized by
93.Fn getcontext ,
94then execution continues as if the original
95.Fn getcontext
96call had just returned (again).
97.Pp
98If
99.Fa ucp
100was initialized by
101.Xr makecontext 3 ,
102execution continues with the invocation of the function specified to
103.Xr makecontext 3 .
104When that function returns,
105.Fa "ucp->uc_link"
106determines what happens next:
107if
108.Fa "ucp->uc_link"
109is
110.Dv NULL ,
111the process exits;
112otherwise,
113.Fn setcontext "ucp->uc_link"
114is implicitly invoked.
115.Pp
116If
117.Fa ucp
118was initialized by the invocation of a signal handler, execution continues
119at the point the thread was interrupted by the signal.
120.Sh RETURN VALUES
121If successful,
122.Fn getcontext
123returns zero and
124.Fn setcontext
125does not return; otherwise \-1 is returned.
126The
127.Fn getcontextx
128returns pointer to the allocated and initialized context on success, and
129.Va NULL
130on failure.
131.Sh ERRORS
132No errors are defined for
133.Fn getcontext
134or
135.Fn setcontext .
136The
137.Fn getcontextx
138may return the following errors in
139.Va errno :
140.Bl -tag -width Er
141.It Bq Er ENOMEM
142No memory was available to allocate for the context or some extended state.
143.El
144.Sh SEE ALSO
145.Xr sigaction 2 ,
146.Xr sigaltstack 2 ,
147.Xr makecontext 3 ,
148.Xr ucontext 3
149.Sh STANDARDS
150The
151.Fn getcontext
152and
153.Fn setcontext
154functions conform to
155.St -xsh5
156and
157.St -p1003.1-2001 .
158The
159.Va errno
160indications are an extension to the standard.
161.Pp
162The
163.St -p1003.1-2004
164revision marked the functions
165.Fn getcontext
166and
167.Fn setcontext
168as obsolete, citing portability issues and recommending the use of
169.Tn POSIX
170threads instead.
171The
172.St -p1003.1-2008
173revision removed the functions from the specification.
174.Sh HISTORY
175The
176.Fn getcontext
177and
178.Fn setcontext
179functions first appeared in
180.At V.4 .
181