NAME¶

pthread_sigmask - examine and change mask of blocked signals

LIBRARY¶

POSIX threads library (libpthread, -lpthread)

SYNOPSIS¶

#include <signal.h>

int pthread_sigmask(int how, const sigset_t *set, sigset_t *oldset);

pthread_sigmask():

    _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 199506L || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500

DESCRIPTION¶

The pthread_sigmask() function is just like sigprocmask(2), with the difference that its use in multithreaded programs is explicitly specified by POSIX.1. Other differences are noted in this page.

For a description of the arguments and operation of this function, see sigprocmask(2).

RETURN VALUE¶

On success, pthread_sigmask() returns 0; on error, it returns an error number.

ERRORS¶

See sigprocmask(2).

ATTRIBUTES¶

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

STANDARDS¶

POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY¶

POSIX.1-2001.

NOTES¶

A new thread inherits a copy of its creator's signal mask.

The glibc pthread_sigmask() function silently ignores attempts to block the two real-time signals that are used internally by the NPTL threading implementation. See nptl(7) for details.

EXAMPLES¶

The program below blocks some signals in the main thread, and then creates a dedicated thread to fetch those signals via sigwait(3). The following shell session demonstrates its use:

$ ./a.out &
[1] 5423
$ kill -QUIT %1
Signal handling thread got signal 3
$ kill -USR1 %1
Signal handling thread got signal 10
$ kill -TERM %1
[1]+  Terminated              ./a.out

#include <errno.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
/* Simple error handling functions */
#define handle_error_en(en, msg) \


        do { errno = en; perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } while (0)
static void *
sig_thread(void *arg)
{


    sigset_t *set = arg;


    int s, sig;


    for (;;) {


        s = sigwait(set, &sig);


        if (s != 0)


            handle_error_en(s, "sigwait");


        printf("Signal handling thread got signal %d\n", sig);


    }
}
int
main(void)
{


    pthread_t thread;


    sigset_t set;


    int s;


    /* Block SIGQUIT and SIGUSR1; other threads created by main()


       will inherit a copy of the signal mask. */


    sigemptyset(&set);


    sigaddset(&set, SIGQUIT);


    sigaddset(&set, SIGUSR1);


    s = pthread_sigmask(SIG_BLOCK, &set, NULL);


    if (s != 0)


        handle_error_en(s, "pthread_sigmask");


    s = pthread_create(&thread, NULL, &sig_thread, &set);


    if (s != 0)


        handle_error_en(s, "pthread_create");


    /* Main thread carries on to create other threads and/or do


       other work. */


    pause();            /* Dummy pause so we can test program */
}

SEE ALSO¶

sigaction(2), sigpending(2), sigprocmask(2), pthread_attr_setsigmask_np(3), pthread_create(3), pthread_kill(3), sigsetops(3), pthreads(7), signal(7)