NAME

pthread_kill - send a signal to a thread

SYNOPSIS

[THR] #include <signal.h>

int pthread_kill(pthread_t thread, int sig);

DESCRIPTION

The pthread_kill() function shall request that a signal be delivered to the specified thread.

As in kill(), if sig is zero, error checking shall be performed but no signal shall actually be sent.

RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, the function shall return a value of zero. Otherwise, the function shall return an error number. If the pthread_kill() function fails, no signal shall be sent.

ERRORS

The pthread_kill() function shall fail if:

[ESRCH]

No thread could be found corresponding to that specified by the given thread ID.

[EINVAL]

The value of the sig argument is an invalid or unsupported signal number.

The pthread_kill() function shall not return an error code of [EINTR].

EXAMPLES

None.

APPLICATION USAGE

The pthread_kill() function provides a mechanism for asynchronously directing a signal at a thread in the calling process. This could be used, for example, by one thread to affect broadcast delivery of a signal to a set of threads.

Note that pthread_kill() only causes the signal to be handled in the context of the given thread; the signal action (termination or stopping) affects the process as a whole.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

SEE ALSO

kill(), pthread_self(), raise(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <signal.h>

CHANGE HISTORY

First released in Issue 5. Included for alignment with the POSIX Threads Extension.

Issue 6

The pthread_kill() function is marked as part of the Threads option.

The APPLICATION USAGE section is added.