ABORT(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual ABORT(P)NAMEabort - generate an abnormal process abortSYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
void abort(void);
DESCRIPTION
The abort() function shall cause abnormal process termination to occur,
unless the signal SIGABRT is being caught and the signal handler does
not return.
The abnormal termination processing shall include the default actions
defined for SIGABRT and may include an attempt to effect fclose() on
all open streams.
The SIGABRT signal shall be sent to the calling process as if by means
of raise() with the argument SIGABRT.
The status made available to wait() or waitpid() by abort() shall be
that of a process terminated by the SIGABRT signal. The abort() func‐
tion shall override blocking or ignoring the SIGABRT signal.
RETURN VALUE
The abort() function shall not return.
ERRORS
No errors are defined.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
None.
APPLICATION USAGE
Catching the signal is intended to provide the application writer with
a portable means to abort processing, free from possible interference
from any implementation-defined functions.
RATIONALE
The ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard requires the abort() function to be
async-signal-safe. Since IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 defers to the ISO C stan‐
dard, this required a change to the DESCRIPTION from ``shall include
the effect of fclose()'' to ``may include an attempt to effect
fclose().''
The revised wording permits some backwards-compatibility and avoids a
potential deadlock situation.
The Open Group Base Resolution bwg2002-003 is applied, removing the
following XSI shaded paragraph from the DESCRIPTION:
``On XSI-conformant systems, in addition the abnormal termination pro‐
cessing shall include the effect of fclose() on message catalog
descriptors.''
There were several reasons to remove this paragraph:
* No special processing of open message catalogs needs to be performed
prior to abnormal process termination.
* The main reason to specifically mention that abort() includes the
effect of fclose() on open streams is to flush output queued on the
stream. Message catalogs in this context are read-only and, there‐
fore, do not need to be flushed.
* The effect of fclose() on a message catalog descriptor is unspeci‐
fied. Message catalog descriptors are allowed, but not required to
be implemented using a file descriptor, but there is no mention in
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 of a message catalog descriptor using a stan‐
dard I/O stream FILE object as would be expected by fclose().
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSOexit() , kill() , raise() , signal() , wait() , waitpid() , the Base
Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2003 ABORT(P)
