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semop(2) System Calls Manual semop(2) NAME semop - Performs semaphore operations SYNOPSIS #include <sys/sem.h> int semop( int semid, struct sembuf *sops, size_t nsops); [Digital] The following declaration of the nsops parameter does not conform to current standards and is supported only for backward compat- ibility: u_int nsops Application developers may want to specify #include statements for <sys/types.h> and <sys/ipc.h> before the one for <sys/sem.h> if pro- grams are being developed for multiple platforms. The additional #in- clude statements are not required on DIGITAL UNIX systems or by ISO or X/Open standards, but may be required on other vendors' systems that conform to these standards. PARAMETERS Specifies the ID of the semaphore set. Points to the user-defined ar- ray of sembuf structures that contain the semaphore operations. The number of sembuf structures in the array. DESCRIPTION The semop() function performs operations on the semaphores in the spec- ified semaphore set. The semaphore operations are defined in the sops array. The sops array contains nsops elements, each of which is repre- sented by a sembuf structure. The sembuf structure (from sys/sem.h) is shown here: struct sembuf { u_short sem_num; short sem_op; short sem_flg; }; The fields in the sembuf structure are defined as follows: Specifies an individual semaphore within the semaphore set. Specifies the operation to perform on the semaphore. Specifies various flags for the opera- tions. The possible values are: Instructs the kernel to adjust the process's adjust-on-exit value for a modified semaphore. When the process exits, the kernel uses this value to restore the semaphore to the value it had before any modifications by the process. This flag is used to prevent semaphore locking by a process that no longer exists. Instructs the kernel to return an error condition if a requested opera- tion would cause the process to sleep. If the kernel returns an error condition, none of the requested semaphore operations are performed. The sem_op operation is specified as a negative integer, a positive in- teger, or 0 (zero). The effects of these three values are described below. If sem_op is a negative integer and the calling process has modify per- mission, the semop() function does one of the following: If the sema- phore's current value (in semval) is equal to or greater than the ab- solute value of sem_op, the absolute value of sem_op is subtracted from semval. If SEM_UNDO is set, the absolute value of sem_op is added to the calling process' adjust-on-exit value for the semaphore. If semval is less than the absolute value of sem_op and IPC_NOWAIT is set, se- mop() returns immediately. If semval is less than the absolute value of sem_op and IPC_NOWAIT is not set, semop() increments the semaphore's semncnt value and suspends the calling process. If the process is suspended, it sleeps until one of the following oc- curs: The semval value becomes equal to or greater than the absolute value of sem_op. In this case, the semaphore's semncnt value is decre- mented; the absolute value of sem_op is subtracted from semval; and, if SEM_UNDO is set, the absolute value of sem_op is added to the calling process's adjust-on-exit value for the semaphore. The semaphore set (specified by semid) is removed from the system. In this case, errno is set equal to [EIDRM] and a value of -1 is returned to the calling process. The calling process catches a signal. In this case, the sem- aphore's semncnt value is decremented, and the calling process resumes execution as directed by the sigaction() function. If sem_op is a positive integer and the calling process has modify per- mission, semop() adds the sem_op value to the semaphore's current sem- val value. If SEM_UNDO is set, the sem_op value is subtracted from the calling process's adjust-on-exit value for the semaphore. If sem_op is 0 (zero) and the calling process has read permission, se- mop() does one of the following: If semval is 0, semop() returns imme- diately. If semval is not equal to 0 and IPC_NOWAIT is set, semop() returns immediately. If semval is not equal to 0 and IPC_NOWAIT is not set, semop() increments the semaphore's semzcnt value and suspends the calling process. If the process is suspended, it sleeps until one of the following oc- curs: The semval value becomes 0 (zero). In this case, the semaphore's semncnt value is decremented. The semaphore set (specified by semid) is removed from the system. In this case, errno is set equal to [EI- DRM] and a value of -1 is returned to the calling process. The calling process catches a signal. In this case, the semaphore's semncnt value is decremented, and the calling process resumes execution as directed by the sigaction() function. The calling process must have read (sense) or write (alter) permission to the semaphore set for all access control policies for each specified operation. If any operation accesses the semaphore set in a way that is not allowed according to one of the access control policies, access is denied. NOTES [Digital] Semaphore operations are performed atomically; that is, ei- ther all of the requested operations are performed, or none are. If the kernel goes to sleep while doing the operations, it restores all of the semaphores in the set to their previous values, at the start of the semop() function. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion, the semop() function returns a value of 0 (zero) and the sempid value for each semaphore that is operated upon is set to the process ID of the calling process. If the semop() function fails, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS The semop() function sets errno to the specified values for the follow- ing conditions: The nsops parameter is greater than the system-defined maximum. The calling process does not have the required permission. The process does not have read or write access permission to the sema- phore set with respect to all access control policies. Both sem_flg and IPC_NOWAIT are true, but the requested operation has caused the calling process to be suspended. The sem_num parameter is less than 0 (zero) or greater than or equal to the number of semaphores in semid. The semaphore ID specified by the semid parameter has been removed from the system. The semop() function was interrupted by a signal. The semid parameter is not a valid semaphore ID, or the number of sema- phores for which SEM_UNDO is requested exceeds the system-defined limit. The system-defined limit on the number of processes using SEM_UNDO was exceeded. An operation caused a semval to overflow the system-defined limit, or an operation caused an adjust-on-exit value to exceed the system-defined limit. [Digital] The requested operation is not supported by this implementation. RELATED INFORMATION Functions: exec(2), exit(2), fork(2), semctl(2), semget(2) Data Structures: semid_ds(4) Standards: standards(5) delim off semop(2)