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34 .\" @(#)sigaltstack.2 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
35 .\"
36 .Dd June 4, 1993
37 .Dt SIGALTSTACK 2
38 .Os BSD 4.2
39 .Sh NAME
40 .Nm sigaltstack
41 .Nd set and/or get signal stack context
42 .Sh SYNOPSIS
43 .Fd #include <sys/types.h>
44 .Fd #include <signal.h>
45 .Bd -literal
46 struct sigaltstack {
47 char *ss_sp;
48 int ss_size;
49 int ss_flags;
50 };
51 .Ed
52 .Ft int
53 .Fn sigaltstack "const struct sigaltstack *ss" "struct sigaltstack *oss"
54 .Sh DESCRIPTION
55 .Fn Sigaltstack
56 allows users to define an alternate stack on which signals
57 are to be processed.
58 If
59 .Fa ss
60 is non-zero,
61 it specifies a pointer to and the size of a
62 .Em "signal stack"
63 on which to deliver signals,
64 and tells the system if the process is currently executing
65 on that stack.
66 When a signal's action indicates its handler
67 should execute on the signal stack (specified with a
68 .Xr sigaction 2
69 call), the system checks to see
70 if the process is currently executing on that stack.
71 If the process is not currently executing on the signal stack,
72 the system arranges a switch to the signal stack for the
73 duration of the signal handler's execution.
74 .Pp
75 If
76 .Dv SA_DISABLE
77 is set in
78 .Fa ss_flags ,
79 .Fa ss_sp
80 and
81 .Fa ss_size
82 are ignored and the signal stack will be disabled.
83 Trying to disable an active stack will cause
84 .Nm
85 to return -1 with
86 .Va errno
87 set to
88 .Dv EINVAL .
89 A disabled stack will cause all signals to be
90 taken on the regular user stack.
91 If the stack is later re-enabled then all signals that were specified
92 to be processed on an alternate stack will resume doing so.
93 .Pp
94 If
95 .Fa oss
96 is non-zero, the current signal stack state is returned.
97 The
98 .Fa ss_flags
99 field will contain the value
100 .Dv SA_ONSTACK
101 if the process is currently on a signal stack and
102 .Dv SA_DISABLE
103 if the signal stack is currently disabled.
104 .Sh NOTES
105 The value
106 .Dv SIGSTKSZ
107 is defined to be the number of bytes/chars that would be used to cover
108 the usual case when allocating an alternate stack area.
109 The following code fragment is typically used to allocate an alternate stack.
110 .Bd -literal -offset indent
111 if ((sigstk.ss_sp = malloc(SIGSTKSZ)) == NULL)
112 /* error return */
113 sigstk.ss_size = SIGSTKSZ;
114 sigstk.ss_flags = 0;
115 if (sigaltstack(&sigstk,0) < 0)
116 perror("sigaltstack");
117 .Ed
118 An alternative approach is provided for programs with signal handlers
119 that require a specific amount of stack space other than the default size.
120 The value
121 .Dv MINSIGSTKSZ
122 is defined to be the number of bytes/chars that is required by
123 the operating system to implement the alternate stack feature.
124 In computing an alternate stack size,
125 programs should add
126 .Dv MINSIGSTKSZ
127 to their stack requirements to allow for the operating system overhead.
128 .Pp
129 Signal stacks are automatically adjusted for the direction of stack
130 growth and alignment requirements.
131 Signal stacks may or may not be protected by the hardware and
132 are not ``grown'' automatically as is done for the normal stack.
133 If the stack overflows and this space is not protected
134 unpredictable results may occur.
135 .Sh RETURN VALUES
136 Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.
137 Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and
138 .Va errno
139 is set to indicate the error.
140 .Sh ERRORS
141 .Fn Sigstack
142 will fail and the signal stack context will remain unchanged
143 if one of the following occurs.
144 .Bl -tag -width [ENOMEM]
145 .It Bq Er EFAULT
146 Either
147 .Fa ss
148 or
149 .Fa oss
150 points to memory that is not a valid part of the process
151 address space.
152 .It Bq Er EINVAL
153 An attempt was made to disable an active stack.
154 .It Bq Er ENOMEM
155 Size of alternate stack area is less than or equal to
156 .Dv MINSIGSTKSZ .
157 .El
158 .Sh SEE ALSO
159 .Xr sigaction 2 ,
160 .Xr setjmp 3
161 .Sh HISTORY
162 The predecessor to
163 .Nm sigaltstack ,
164 the
165 .Fn sigstack
166 system call, appeared in
167 .Bx 4.2 .