xref: /openbsd-src/lib/libc/gen/sleep.3 (revision b2ea75c1b17e1a9a339660e7ed45cd24946b230e)
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34.Dd June 4, 1993
35.Dt SLEEP 3
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm sleep
39.Nd suspend process execution for interval of seconds
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Fd #include <unistd.h>
42.Ft unsigned int
43.Fn sleep "unsigned int seconds"
44.Sh DESCRIPTION
45The
46.Fn sleep
47function suspends execution of the calling process until either the
48number of seconds specified by
49.Fa seconds
50have elapsed or a signal is delivered to the calling process and its
51action is to invoke a signal-catching function or to terminate the process.
52The suspension time may be longer than requested due to the
53scheduling of other activity by the system.
54.Pp
55This function is implemented using
56.Xr nanosleep 2 ;
57it requires one system call each time it is invoked.
58A similar but less compatible function can be obtained with a single
59.Xr select 2 ;
60such a function would not restart after signals, and also does not interfere
61with other uses of
62.Xr setitimer 2
63(not that
64.Fn sleep
65interferes with interval timers anymore).
66.Sh RETURN VALUES
67If the
68.Fn sleep
69function returns because the requested time has elapsed, the value
70returned will be zero.
71If the
72.Fn sleep
73function returns due to the delivery of a signal, the value returned
74will be the unslept amount (the request time minus the time actually
75slept) in seconds.
76.Sh SEE ALSO
77.Xr nanosleep 2 ,
78.Xr select 2 ,
79.Xr setitimer 2 ,
80.Xr sigaction 2 ,
81.Xr sigsuspend 2 ,
82.Xr alarm 3 ,
83.Xr pause 3 ,
84.Xr usleep 3
85.Sh STANDARDS
86The
87.Fn sleep
88function conforms to
89.St -p1003.1-90 .
90.Sh HISTORY
91A
92.Fn sleep
93function appeared in
94.At v7 .
95