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fork(),wait(), execv()

The fork() system call in Linux and Unix creates a new child process that runs concurrently with the parent process, returning different values based on the success of the operation. The wait() system call blocks the parent process until a child process exits, while the execv system call replaces the current process image with a new one. The document includes examples in C demonstrating the use of fork() and the resulting process creation hierarchy.

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5 views

fork(),wait(), execv()

The fork() system call in Linux and Unix creates a new child process that runs concurrently with the parent process, returning different values based on the success of the operation. The wait() system call blocks the parent process until a child process exits, while the execv system call replaces the current process image with a new one. The document includes examples in C demonstrating the use of fork() and the resulting process creation hierarchy.

Uploaded by

harshithasshankar3456
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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fork() system call



The Fork system call is used for creating a new process in Linux, and
Unix systems, which is called the child process, which runs
concurrently with the process that makes the fork() call (parent
process). After a new child process is created, both processes will
execute the next instruction following the fork() system call.
The child process uses the same pc(program counter), same CPU
registers, and same open files which use in the parent process. It
takes no parameters and returns an integer value.
Below are different values returned by fork().
 Negative Value: The creation of a child process was
unsuccessful.
 Zero: Returned to the newly created child process.
 Positive value: Returned to parent or caller. The value
contains the process ID of the newly created child process.

Note: fork() is threading based function, to get the correct output


run the program on a local system.
Please note that the above programs don’t compile in a
Windows environment.
Example of fork() in C
 C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main()
{

// make two process which run same


// program after this instruction
pid_t p = fork();
if(p<0){
perror("fork fail");
exit(1);
}
printf("Hello world!, process_id(pid) = %d \
n",getpid());
return 0;
}

Output
Hello world!, process_id(pid) = 31
Hello world!, process_id(pid) = 32

Example 2: Calculate the number of times hello is


printed.
 C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main()
{
fork();
fork();
fork();
printf("hello\n");
return 0;
}

Output
hello
hello
hello
hello
hello
hello
hello
hello
Explanation
The number of times ‘hello’ is printed is equal to the number of
processes created. Total Number of Processes = 2 n, where n is the
number of fork system calls. So here n = 3, 23 = 8 Let us put some
label names for the three lines:
fork (); // Line 1
fork (); // Line 2
fork (); // Line 3
L1 // There will be 1 child process
/ \ // created by line 1.
L2 L2 // There will be 2 child processes
/ \ / \ // created by line 2
L3 L3 L3 L3 // There will be 4 child processes
// created by line 3
So there is a total of eight processes (new child processes and one
original process). If we want to represent the relationship between
the processes as a tree hierarchy it would be the following: The main
process: P0 Processes created by the 1st fork: P1 Processes created
by the 2nd fork: P2, P3 Processes created by the 3rd fork: P4, P5, P6,
P7
P0
/ | \
P1 P4 P2
/ \ \
P3 P6 P5
/
P7

Wait System Call



A call to wait() blocks the calling process until one of its child
processes exits or a signal is received. After child process
terminates, parent continues its execution after wait system call
instruction.
Child process may terminate due to any of these:
 It calls exit();
 It returns (an int) from main
 It receives a signal (from the OS or another process) whose
default action is to terminate.

execv system call

The execv system call is a function in the C programming language that replaces the current
process image with a new process image. The new process image is loaded into the current
process space and begins execution from the entry point of the new program.
The execv system call is part of the exec family of functions, which are used to run a new
program in the current process space. The exec family of functions can be used to run any
program files, including binary executables or shell scripts 1

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