SEM_TIMEDWAIT(3P)

PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME
sem_timedwait - lock a semaphore (ADVANCED REALTIME)

SYNOPSIS

#include <semaphore.h>
#include <time.h>

int sem_timedwait(sem_t *restrict sem,
const struct timespec *restrict abs_timeout);

DESCRIPTION

The sem_timedwait() function shall lock the semaphore referenced by sem as in the sem_wait() function. However, if the semaphore cannot be locked without waiting for another process or thread to unlock the semaphore by performing a sem_post() function, this wait shall be terminated when the specified timeout expires.

The timeout shall expire when the absolute time specified by abs_timeout passes, as measured by the clock on which timeouts are based (that is, when the value of that clock equals or exceeds abs_timeout), or if the absolute time specified by abs_timeout has already been passed at the time of the call.

If the Timers option is supported, the timeout shall be based on the CLOCK_REALTIME clock. If the Timers option is not supported, the timeout shall be based on the system clock as returned by the time() function. The resolution of the timeout shall be the resolution of the clock on which it is based. The timespec data type is defined as a structure in the <time.h> header.

Under no circumstance shall the function fail with a timeout if the semaphore can be locked immediately. The validity of the abs_timeout need not be checked if the semaphore can be locked immediately.

RETURN VALUE

The sem_timedwait() function shall return zero if the calling process successfully performed the semaphore lock operation on the semaphore designated by sem. If the call was unsuccessful, the state of the semaphore shall be unchanged, and the function shall return a value of -1 and set errno to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The sem_timedwait() function shall fail if:

EINVAL
    The sem argument does not refer to a valid semaphore.

EINVAL
    The process or thread would have blocked, and the abs_timeout parameter specified a nanoseconds field value less than zero or greater than or equal to 1000 million.

ETIMEDOUT
    The semaphore could not be locked before the specified timeout expired.

The sem_timedwait() function may fail if:

EDEADLK
    A deadlock condition was detected.

EINTR
    A signal interrupted this function.

The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

None.

APPLICATION USAGE

Applications using these functions may be subject to priority inversion, as discussed in the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 3.285, Priority Inversion.

The sem_timedwait() function is part of the Semaphores and Timeouts options and need not be provided on all implementations.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

SEE ALSO

sem_post(), sem_trywait(), sem_wait(), semctl(), semget(), semop(), time(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <semaphore.h>, <time.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 .