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semop(2)

HP-UX 11i Version 3: February 2007
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NAME

semop(), semtimedop() — semaphore operations

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/sem.h> #include <sys/time.h> int semop( int semid, struct sembuf *sops, size_t nsops ); int semtimedop( int semid, struct sembuf *sops, size_t nsops, const struct timespec *timeout );

DESCRIPTION

semop() is used to atomically perform an array of semaphore operations on the set of semaphores associated with the semaphore identifier specified by semid. sops is a pointer to the array of semaphore-operation structures. nsops is the number of such structures in the array. The contents of each structure includes the following members:

ushort sem_num; /* semaphore number */ short sem_op /* semaphore operation */ short sem_flg; /* operation flags */

Each semaphore operation specified by sem_op is performed on the corresponding semaphore specified by semid and sem_num. Semaphore array operations are atomic in that none of the semaphore operations are performed until blocking conditions on all of the semaphores in the array have been removed.

sem_op specifies one of three semaphore operations as follows:

  • If sem_op is a negative integer, one of the following occurs:

    If semaphore value (see semaphore identifier in glossary(9)) is greater than or equal to the absolute value of sem_op, the absolute value of sem_op is subtracted from semaphore value. Also, if (sem_flg & SEM_UNDO) is "true", the absolute value of sem_op is added to the calling process's semadj value (see glossary(9) and exit(2)) for the specified semaphore.

    If semaphore value is less than the absolute value of sem_op and (sem_flg & IPC_NOWAIT) is "true", semop() returns immediately.

    If semaphore value is less than the absolute value of sem_op and (sem_flg & IPC_NOWAIT) is ``false'', semop() increments the internal semaphore waiter count associated with the specified semaphore and suspend execution of the calling process until one of the following conditions occur:

    • Semaphore value becomes greater than or equal to the absolute value of sem_op. When this occurs, the value of internal semaphore waiter count associated with the specified semaphore is decremented, the absolute value of sem_op is subtracted from semaphore value and, if (sem_flg & SEM_UNDO) is "true", the absolute value of sem_op is added to the calling process's semadj value for the specified semaphore.

    • The semid for which the calling process is awaiting action is removed from the system (see semctl(2)). When this occurs, errno is set equal to EIDRM, and a value of -1 is returned.

    • The calling process receives a signal that is to be caught. When this occurs, the value of internal semaphore waiter count associated with the specified semaphore is decremented, and the calling process resumes execution in the manner prescribed in signal(5).

  • If sem_op is a positive integer, the value of sem_op is added to semaphore value and, if (sem_flg & SEM_UNDO) is "true", the value of sem_op is subtracted from the calling process's semadj value for the specified semaphore.

  • If sem_op is zero, one of the following occurs:

    If semaphore value is zero, semop() proceeds to the next semaphore operation specified by sops , or returns immediately if this is the last operation.

    If semaphore value is not equal to zero and (sem_flg & IPC_NOWAIT) is "true", semop() returns immediately.

    If semaphore value is not equal to zero and (sem_flg & IPC_NOWAIT) is ``false'', semop() increments the internal zero waiter count associated with the specified semaphore and suspends execution of the calling process until one of the following occurs:

    • Semaphore value becomes zero, at which time the value of internal zero waiter count associated with the specified semaphore is decremented.

    • The semid for which the calling process is awaiting action is removed from the system. When this occurs, errno is set equal to EIDRM, and a value of -1 is returned.

    • The calling process receives a signal that is to be caught. When this occurs, the value of internal zero waiter count associated with the specified semaphore is decremented, and the calling process resumes execution in the manner prescribed in signal(5).

semtimedop() is identical to semop() except that an additional constraint is provided by the timeout parameter. If semtimedop() must suspend the calling process longer than the time indicated by timeout, or if the timeout expires while the calling process is suspended in semtimedop(), the call returns an error.

If the structure pointed to by the timeout parameter is zero-valued, semtimedop() returns with an error immediately if it would otherwise have to suspend the calling program.

If the timeout parameter is the NULL pointer, semtimedop() behaves exactly like semop().

EXAMPLES

The following call to semop() atomically performs a "P" or "get" operation on the second semaphore in the semaphore set and a "V" or "release" operation on the third semaphore in the set. This example assumes the process has a valid semid which represents a set of 4 semaphores as shown on the semget(2) manual page. It also assumes that the semaphore values of the semaphores in the set have been initialized as shown in the semctl(2) manual entry.

struct sembuf sops[4]; sops[0].sem_num = 1; sops[0].sem_op = -1; /* P (get) */ sops[0].sem_flg = 0; sops[1].sem_num = 2; sops[1].sem_op = 1; /* V (release) */ sops[1].sem_flg = 0; semop (mysemid, sops, 2);

RETURN VALUE

If semop() or semtimedop() returns due to the receipt of a signal, a value of -1 is returned to the calling process and errno is set to EINTR. If it returns due to the removal of a semid from the system, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to EIDRM.

Upon successful completion, a non-negative value is returned. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

semop() fails if one or more of the following is true for any of the semaphore operations specified by sops:

EINVAL

semid is not a valid semaphore identifier.

EFBIG

sem_num is less than zero or greater than or equal to the number of semaphores in the set associated with semid.

E2BIG

nsops is greater than the system-imposed maximum.

EACCES

Operation permission is denied to the calling process (see glossary(9)).

EAGAIN

The operation would result in suspension of the calling process but (sem_flg & IPC_NOWAIT) is "true".

ENOSPC

The limit on the number of individual processes requesting an SEM_UNDO would be exceeded.

EINVAL

The number of individual semaphores for which the calling process requests a SEM_UNDO would exceed the limit.

ERANGE

An operation would cause a semaphore value to overflow the system-imposed limit.

ERANGE

An operation would cause a semadj value to overflow the system-imposed limit.

EFAULT

sops points to an illegal address. The reliable detection of this error will be implementation dependent.

semtimedop() fails if one or more of the following is true:

EFAULT

The timeout argument points to an illegal address.

EINVAL

The timeout argument has one or more invalid fields. For example, tv_sec or tv_nsec is less than 0 or tv_nsec is greater than or equal to one billion.

EAGAIN

The timeout expired before the semaphore operations could be completed.

Upon successful completion, each semaphore specified in the array pointed to sops will be updated to record the current time as the last operation time and the process ID of the calling process as the last to have modified that semaphore.

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

semop(): SVID2, SVID3, XPG2, XPG3, XPG4

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