ABORT(3)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  ABORT(3)



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

NAME
       abort -- generate an abnormal process abort

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdlib.h>

       void abort(void);

DESCRIPTION
       The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the
       ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements described here
       and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This volume of POSIX.1-2017
       defers to the ISO C standard.

       The abort() function shall cause abnormal process termination to occur,
       unless the signal SIGABRT is being caught and the signal handler does
       not return.

       The abnormal termination processing shall include the default actions
       defined for SIGABRT and may include an attempt to effect fclose() on
       all open streams.

       The SIGABRT signal shall be sent to the calling process as if by means
       of raise() with the argument SIGABRT.

       The status made available to wait(), waitid(), or waitpid() by abort()
       shall be that of a process terminated by the SIGABRT signal.  The
       abort() function shall override blocking or ignoring the SIGABRT
       signal.

RETURN VALUE
       The abort() function shall not return.

ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES
       None.

APPLICATION USAGE
       Catching the signal is intended to provide the application developer
       with a portable means to abort processing, free from possible
       interference from any implementation-supplied functions.

RATIONALE
       The ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard requires the abort() function to be
       async-signal-safe. Since POSIX.1-2008 defers to the ISO C standard,
       this required a change to the DESCRIPTION from ``shall include the
       effect of fclose()'' to ``may include an attempt to effect fclose().''

       The revised wording permits some backwards-compatibility and avoids a
       potential deadlock situation.

       The Open Group Base Resolution bwg2002-003 is applied, removing the
       following XSI shaded paragraph from the DESCRIPTION:

       ``On XSI-conformant systems, in addition the abnormal termination
       processing shall include the effect of fclose() on message catalog
       descriptors.''

       There were several reasons to remove this paragraph:

        *  No special processing of open message catalogs needs to be
           performed prior to abnormal process termination.

        *  The main reason to specifically mention that abort() includes the
           effect of fclose() on open streams is to flush output queued on the
           stream. Message catalogs in this context are read-only and,
           therefore, do not need to be flushed.

        *  The effect of fclose() on a message catalog descriptor is
           unspecified. Message catalog descriptors are allowed, but not
           required to be implemented using a file descriptor, but there is no
           mention in POSIX.1-2008 of a message catalog descriptor using a
           standard I/O stream FILE object as would be expected by fclose().

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       exit(), kill(), raise(), signal(), wait(), waitid()

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2017, <stdlib.h>

COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology --
       Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 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 .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
       files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                  2017                             ABORT(3)
