WAITID(3) Library Functions Manual WAITID(3)

waitid — wait for a child process to change state

#include <sys/wait.h>

int waitid(idtype_t idtype, id_t id, siginfo_t *infop, int options);

The waitid () function shall obtain status information (see V2_chap02(3)) pertaining to termination, stop, and/or continue events in one of the caller's child processes.

The waitid () function shall cause the calling thread to become blocked until an error occurs or status information becomes available to the calling thread that satisfies all of the following properties ("matching status information"):

  • The status information is from one of the child processes in the set of child processes specified by the idtype and id arguments.
  • The state change in the status information matches one of the state change flags set in the options argument.

If matching status information is available prior to the call to waitid (), return shall be immediate. If matching status information is available for two or more child processes, the order in which their status is reported is unspecified.

As described in V2_chap02(3), the waitid () function consumes the status information it obtains unless the WNOWAIT flag is set in the options argument.

The behavior when multiple threads are blocked in wait(3), waitid (), or waitpid(3) is described in V2_chap02(3).

The waitid () function shall record the obtained status information in the structure pointed to by infop. The fields of the structure pointed to by infop shall be filled in as described under "Pointer to a Function" in V2_chap02(3).

The idtype and id arguments are used to specify which children waitid () waits for.

If idtype is P_PID, waitid () shall wait for the child with a process ID equal to ( pid_t) id.

If idtype is P_PGID, waitid () shall wait for any child with a process group ID equal to ( pid_t) id.

If idtype is P_ALL, waitid () shall wait for any children and id is ignored.

The options argument is used to specify which state changes waitid () shall wait for. It is formed by OR'ing together the following flags:

Status shall be returned for any continued child process whose status either has not been reported since it continued from a job control stop or has been reported only by calls to waitid () with the WNOWAIT flag set.
Wait for processes that have terminated.
Do not hang if no status is available; return immediately.
Keep the process whose status is returned in infop in a waitable state. This shall not affect the state of the process; the process may be waited for again after this call completes.
Status shall be returned for any child that has stopped upon receipt of a signal, and whose status either has not been reported since it stopped or has been reported only by calls to waitid () with the WNOWAIT flag set.

Applications shall specify at least one of the flags WEXITED, WSTOPPED, or WCONTINUED to be OR'ed in with the options argument.

The application shall ensure that the infop argument points to a structure. If waitid () returns because a child process was found that satisfied the conditions indicated by the arguments idtype and options, then the structure pointed to by infop shall be filled in by the system with the status of the process; the si_signo member shall be set equal to SIGCHLD. If waitid () returns because WNOHANG was specified and status is not available for any process specified by idtype and id, then the si_signo and members of the structure pointed to by infop shall be set to zero and the values of other members of the structure are unspecified.

If WNOHANG was specified and status is not available for any process specified by idtype and id, 0 shall be returned. If waitid () returns due to the change of state of one of its children, 0 shall be returned. Otherwise, -1 shall be returned and set to indicate the error.

The waitid () function shall fail if:

The calling process has no existing unwaited-for child processes.
The waitid () function was interrupted by a signal. The values of the fields of the structure pointed to by infop are undefined.
An invalid value was specified for options , or idtype and id specify an invalid set of processes.

None.

Calls to waitid () with idtype equal to P_ALL will collect information about any child process. This may result in interactions with other interfaces that may be waiting for their own children (such as by use of system(3)). For this reason it is recommended that portable applications not use waitid () with idtype of P_ALL. See also APPLICATION USAGE for wait(3).

As specified in _Exit(3), if the calling process has SA_NOCLDWAIT set or has SIGCHLD set to SIG_IGN, then the termination of a child process will not cause status information to become available to a thread blocked in wait(3), waitid (), or waitpid(3). Thus, a thread blocked in one of the wait functions will remain blocked unless some other condition causes the thread to resume execution (such as an [ECHILD] failure due to no remaining children in the set of waited-for children).

None.

None.

V2_chap02(3), V2_chap02(3), exec(3), exit(3), wait(3)

XBD <signal.h>, <sys/wait.h>

First released in Issue 4, Version 2.

Moved from X/OPEN UNIX extension to BASE.

The DESCRIPTION is updated for alignment with the POSIX Threads Extension.

The normative text is updated to avoid use of the term "must" for application requirements.

Austin Group Interpretation 1003.1-2001 #060 is applied, updating the DESCRIPTION.

The waitid () function is moved from the XSI option to the Base.

APPLICATION USAGE is added, recommending that the waitid () function not be used with idtype equal to P_ALL.

The description of the WNOHANG flag is updated.

POSIX.1-2008, Technical Corrigendum 1, XSH/TC1-2008/0711 [154], XSH/TC1-2008/0712 [154], and XSH/TC1-2008/0713 [153] are applied.

POSIX.1-2008, Technical Corrigendum 2, XSH/TC2-2008/0387 [690] is applied.

Austin Group Defect 1332 is applied, changing the description of WEXITED.

Austin Group Defect 1547 is applied, changing the description of [EINTR].

June 14, 2024 posix.fail