xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/getcontext.3 (revision cab6a39d7b343596a5823e65c0f7b426551ec22d)
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36.\" $FreeBSD$
37.\"
38.Dd March 23, 2020
39.Dt GETCONTEXT 3
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm getcontext , getcontextx , setcontext
43.Nd get and set user thread context
44.Sh LIBRARY
45.Lb libc
46.Sh SYNOPSIS
47.In ucontext.h
48.Ft int
49.Fn getcontext "ucontext_t *ucp"
50.Ft ucontext_t *
51.Fn getcontextx "void"
52.Ft int
53.Fn setcontext "const ucontext_t *ucp"
54.Sh DESCRIPTION
55The
56.Fn getcontext
57function
58saves the current thread's execution context in the structure pointed to by
59.Fa ucp .
60This saved context may then later be restored by calling
61.Fn setcontext .
62.Pp
63The
64.Fn getcontextx
65function saves the current execution context in the newly allocated structure
66.Vt ucontext_t ,
67which is returned on success.
68If architecture defines additional CPU states that can be stored in extended
69blocks referenced from the
70.Vt ucontext_t ,
71the memory for them may be allocated and their context also stored.
72Memory returned by
73.Fn getcontextx
74function shall be freed using
75.Fn free 3 .
76.Pp
77The
78.Fn setcontext
79function
80makes a previously saved thread context the current thread context, i.e.,
81the current context is lost and
82.Fn setcontext
83does not return.
84Instead, execution continues in the context specified by
85.Fa ucp ,
86which must have been previously initialized by a call to
87.Fn getcontext ,
88.Xr makecontext 3 ,
89or by being passed as an argument to a signal handler (see
90.Xr sigaction 2 ) .
91.Pp
92If
93.Fa ucp
94was initialized by
95.Fn getcontext ,
96then execution continues as if the original
97.Fn getcontext
98call had just returned (again).
99.Pp
100If
101.Fa ucp
102was initialized by
103.Xr makecontext 3 ,
104execution continues with the invocation of the function specified to
105.Xr makecontext 3 .
106When that function returns,
107.Fa "ucp->uc_link"
108determines what happens next:
109if
110.Fa "ucp->uc_link"
111is
112.Dv NULL ,
113the process exits;
114otherwise,
115.Fn setcontext "ucp->uc_link"
116is implicitly invoked.
117.Pp
118If
119.Fa ucp
120was initialized by the invocation of a signal handler, execution continues
121at the point the thread was interrupted by the signal.
122.Sh RETURN VALUES
123If successful,
124.Fn getcontext
125returns zero and
126.Fn setcontext
127does not return; otherwise \-1 is returned.
128The
129.Fn getcontextx
130returns pointer to the allocated and initialized context on success, and
131.Va NULL
132on failure.
133.Sh ERRORS
134No errors are defined for
135.Fn getcontext
136or
137.Fn setcontext .
138The
139.Fn getcontextx
140may return the following errors in
141.Va errno :
142.Bl -tag -width Er
143.It Bq Er ENOMEM
144No memory was available to allocate for the context or some extended state.
145.El
146.Sh SEE ALSO
147.Xr sigaction 2 ,
148.Xr sigaltstack 2 ,
149.Xr makecontext 3 ,
150.Xr ucontext 3
151.Sh STANDARDS
152The
153.Fn getcontext
154and
155.Fn setcontext
156functions conform to
157.St -xsh5
158and
159.St -p1003.1-2001 .
160The
161.Va errno
162indications are an extension to the standard.
163.Pp
164The
165.St -p1003.1-2004
166revision marked the functions
167.Fn getcontext
168and
169.Fn setcontext
170as obsolete, citing portability issues and recommending the use of
171.Tn POSIX
172threads instead.
173The
174.St -p1003.1-2008
175revision removed the functions from the specification.
176.Sh HISTORY
177The
178.Fn getcontext
179and
180.Fn setcontext
181functions first appeared in
182.At V.4 .
183