xref: /openbsd/lib/libc/sys/semop.2 (revision 5a38ef86)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: semop.2,v 1.20 2021/10/23 21:17:45 jmc Exp $
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4.\" Copyright (c) 1995 Frank van der Linden
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33.Dd $Mdocdate: October 23 2021 $
34.Dt SEMOP 2
35.Os
36.Sh NAME
37.Nm semop
38.Nd semaphore operations
39.Sh SYNOPSIS
40.In sys/sem.h
41.Ft int
42.Fn semop "int semid" "struct sembuf *sops" "size_t nsops"
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44.Fn semop
45provides a number of atomic operations on a set of semaphores.
46The semaphore set is specified by
47.Fa semid .
48.Fa sops
49is an array of semaphore operations,
50.Fa nsops
51is the number of operations in this array.
52The
53.Va sembuf
54structures in the array contain the following members:
55.Bd -literal
56        u_short sem_num;        /* semaphore # */
57        short   sem_op;         /* semaphore operation */
58        short   sem_flg;        /* operation flags */
59.Ed
60.Pp
61Each operation (specified in
62.Va sem_op )
63is applied to semaphore number
64.Va sem_num
65in the set of semaphores specified by
66.Fa semid .
67The value of
68.Va sem_op
69determines the action taken in the following way:
70.Bl -bullet
71.It
72.Va sem_op
73is less than 0.
74The current process is blocked until the value of the
75semaphore is greater than or equal to the absolute value of
76.Va sem_op .
77The absolute value of
78.Va sem_op
79is then subtracted from the value of the semaphore, and the calling
80process continues.
81Negative values of
82.Va sem_op
83are thus used to enter critical regions.
84.It
85.Va sem_op
86is greater than 0.
87Its value is added to the value of the specified semaphore.
88This is used to leave critical regions.
89.It
90.Va sem_op
91is equal to 0.
92The calling process is blocked until the value of the specified
93semaphore reaches 0.
94.El
95.Pp
96The behavior of each operation is influenced by the flags set in
97.Va sem_flg
98in the following way:
99.Bl -tag -width IPC_NOWAITX
100.It Dv IPC_NOWAIT
101In the case where the calling process would normally block, waiting
102for a semaphore to reach a certain value,
103.Dv IPC_NOWAIT
104makes the
105call return immediately, returning a value of \-1 and setting
106.Va errno
107to
108.Er EAGAIN .
109.It Dv SEM_UNDO
110Keep track of the changes that this call makes to the value of a semaphore,
111so that they can be undone when the calling process terminates.
112This is useful to prevent other processes waiting on a semaphore to
113block forever, should the process that has the semaphore locked
114terminate in a critical section.
115.El
116.Sh RETURN VALUES
117.Rv -std
118.Sh ERRORS
119.Fn semop
120will fail if:
121.Bl -tag -width Er
122.It Bq Er EINVAL
123There is no semaphore associated with
124.Fa semid .
125.It Bq Er EIDRM
126The semaphore set was removed while the process was waiting for one of
127its semaphores to reach a certain value.
128.It Bq Er EACCES
129The calling process has no permission to access the specified semaphore set.
130.It Bq Er E2BIG
131The value of
132.Fa nsops
133is too big.
134The maximum is specified in MAX_SOPS in
135.In sys/sem.h .
136.It Bq Er EFBIG
137.Va sem_num
138in one of the sem_buf structures is less than 0, or greater than the actual
139number of semaphores in the set specified by
140.Fa semid .
141.It Bq Er ENOSPC
142.Dv SEM_UNDO
143was requested, and there is not enough space left in the kernel to
144store the undo information.
145.It Bq Er EAGAIN
146The requested operation cannot immediately be performed, and
147.Dv IPC_NOWAIT
148was set in
149.Va sem_flg .
150.It Bq Er EFAULT
151.Fa sops
152points to an illegal address.
153.El
154.Sh SEE ALSO
155.Xr ipcrm 1 ,
156.Xr ipcs 1 ,
157.Xr semctl 2 ,
158.Xr semget 2
159