UNIX/OSX version of semtimedop

Question

GLibC has a method semtimedop which allows you to perform an operation (a semaphore acquire in this case) which times out after a certain amount of time. Win32 also provides WaitForSingleObject which provides similar functionalty.

As far as I can see there is no equivalent on OSX or other Unices. Can you suggest either the equivalent for semtimedop or a workaround to terminate a semop after a certain amount of time cleanly.

Answer 1

You can break out of a semop() call (and most other blocking calls) by getting a signal, such as one caused by alarm().

untested example:

#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/ipc.h>
#include <sys/sem.h>

volatile int alarm_triggered = 0;
void alarm_handler(int sig)
{
    alarm_triggered = 1;
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    int rc;
    /* set up signal handler */
    signal(SIGALRM, alarm_handler);

    /* ... */
    alarm(30); /* 30 second timeout */
    rc = semop(...);
    if (rc == -1 && errno == EINTR)
    {
        if (alarm_triggered)
        {
            /* timed out! */
        }
    }
    alarm(0); /* disable alarm */
    /* ... */
}