xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/ualarm.3 (revision 7899f917b1c0ea178f1d2be0cfb452086d079d23)
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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