SEMOP(2)                  NetBSD System Calls Manual                  SEMOP(2)

NAME
     semop -- semaphore operations

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/sem.h>

     int
     semop(int semid, struct sembuf *sops, size_t nsops);

DESCRIPTION
     semop() provides a number of atomic operations on a set of semaphores.
     The semaphore set is specified by semid, sops is an array of semaphore
     operations, and nsops is the number of operations in this array.  The
     sembuf structures in the array contain the following members:

         unsigned short sem_num; /* semaphore # */
         short          sem_op;  /* semaphore operation */
         short          sem_flg; /* operation flags */

     Each operation (specified in sem_op) is applied to semaphore number
     sem_num in the set of semaphores specified by semid.  The value of sem_op
     determines the action taken in the following way:

     o   sem_op is less than 0.  The current process is blocked until the
         value of the semaphore is greater than or equal to the absolute value
         of sem_op.  The absolute value of sem_op is then subtracted from the
         value of the semaphore, and the calling process continues.  Negative
         values of sem_op are thus used to enter critical regions.

     o   sem_op is greater than 0.  Its value is added to the value of the
         specified semaphore.  This is used to leave critical regions.

     o   sem_op is equal to 0.  The calling process is blocked until the value
         of the specified semaphore reaches 0.

     The behaviour of each operation is influenced by the flags set in sem_flg
     in the following way:

     IPC_NOWAIT   In the case where the calling process would normally block,
                  waiting for a semaphore to reach a certain value, IPC_NOWAIT
                  makes the call return immediately, returning a value of -1
                  and setting errno to EAGAIN.

     SEM_UNDO     Keep track of the changes that this call makes to the value
                  of a semaphore, so that they can be undone when the calling
                  process terminates.  This is useful to prevent other pro-
                  cesses waiting on a semaphore to block forever, should the
                  process that has the semaphore locked terminate in a criti-
                  cal section.

RETURN VALUES
     Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.  Otherwise, -1 is
     returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
     semop() will fail if:

     [EINVAL]           There is no semaphore associated with semid.

     [EIDRM]            The semaphore set was removed while the process was
                        waiting for one of its semaphores to reach a certain
                        value.

     [EACCES]           The calling process has no permission to access the
                        specified semaphore set.

     [E2BIG]            The value of nsops is too big.  The maximum is defined
                        as MAX_SOPS in <sys/sem.h>.

     [EFBIG]            sem_num in one of the sem_buf structures is less than
                        0, or greater than the actual number of semaphores in
                        the set specified by semid.

     [ENOSPC]           SEM_UNDO was requested, and there is not enough space
                        left in the kernel to store the undo information.

     [EAGAIN]           The requested operation can not immediately be per-
                        formed, and IPC_NOWAIT was set in sem_flg.

     [EFAULT]           sops points to an illegal address.

SEE ALSO
     semctl(2), semget(2)

STANDARDS
     The semop system call conforms to X/Open System Interfaces and Headers
     Issue 5 (``XSH5'').

HISTORY
     Semaphores appeared in the first release of AT&T System V UNIX.

NetBSD 5.0_STABLE              November 3, 2005              NetBSD 5.0_STABLE
