xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/ualarm.3 (revision 06c3fb2749bda94cb5201f81ffdb8fa6c3161b2e)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1986, 1991, 1993
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
13.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
14.\"    without specific prior written permission.
15.\"
16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
26.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
27.\"
28.Dd April 19, 1994
29.Dt UALARM 3
30.Os
31.Sh NAME
32.Nm ualarm
33.Nd schedule signal after specified time
34.Sh LIBRARY
35.Lb libc
36.Sh SYNOPSIS
37.In unistd.h
38.Ft useconds_t
39.Fn ualarm "useconds_t microseconds" "useconds_t interval"
40.Sh DESCRIPTION
41.Bf -symbolic
42This is a simplified interface to
43.Xr setitimer 2 .
44.Ef
45.Pp
46The
47.Fn ualarm
48function
49waits a count of
50.Fa microseconds
51before asserting the terminating signal
52.Dv SIGALRM .
53System activity or time used in processing the call may cause a slight
54delay.
55.Pp
56If the
57.Fa interval
58argument is non-zero, the
59.Dv SIGALRM
60signal will be sent
61to the process every
62.Fa interval
63microseconds after the timer expires (e.g.\& after
64.Fa microseconds
65number of microseconds have passed).
66.Pp
67Due to
68.Xr setitimer 2
69restriction the maximum number of
70.Fa microseconds
71and
72.Fa interval
73is limited to 100000000000000
74(in case this value fits in the unsigned integer).
75.Sh RETURN VALUES
76When the signal has successfully been caught,
77.Fn ualarm
78returns the amount of time left on the clock.
79.Sh NOTES
80A microsecond is 0.000001 seconds.
81.Sh SEE ALSO
82.Xr getitimer 2 ,
83.Xr setitimer 2 ,
84.Xr sigaction 2 ,
85.Xr sigsuspend 2 ,
86.Xr alarm 3 ,
87.Xr signal 3 ,
88.Xr sleep 3 ,
89.Xr usleep 3
90.Sh HISTORY
91The
92.Fn ualarm
93function appeared in
94.Bx 4.3 .
95