Network Programming 2014-10-02

2014/10/02 Network Programming Class Note

exec()

• exec() does not create new PID, only fork() spawn new PID
• loader
• does not change FD table
• ex: execl("ls", "ls", "-la", "d1")

exit()

• exit() has an argument that means error code, to parent
• flush the buffer before exit

wait()

• parent process use wait(child_pid) to wait for child process ends
• exit status is read via wait() system call

PID Table

• PID table: round-robin
• 1 -> 2 -> … -> 65535 -> 1 (if available)
• process fork flow:
  • parent fork() child, child exec() to load some other program
  • parent wait() while child exit(), then read the exit status of child.
  • the child’s pid in PID table will be freed
• zombie process: parent does not wait() for child, i.e. the exit status is not read via parent’s wait() system call when child is in terminated state but still has an entry in process table.
• orphan process: child’s parent process has finished or terminated, but it remains running itself.

File Locking

• Context-switch’s atomic unit is assembly instruction
• The FILE structure has a buffer

Buffering for printf

Consider the following C code

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>

void err_sys(const char* x)
{
    perror(x);
    exit(1);
}

int main(void) {
    int pipefd[2], n;
    char buff[100];

    if(pipe(pipefd) < 0)
        err_sys("pipe error");

    printf("read fd = %d, write fd = %d\n", pipefd[0], pipefd[1]);
    if(write(pipefd[1], "hello world\n", 12) != 12)
        err_sys("write error");

    if((n = read(pipefd[0], buff, sizeof(buff))) <=0)
        err_sys("read error");

    write(1, buff, n);

    exit(0);
}

The output will be (assume you redirect the output into a file)

hello world
read fd = 3, write fd = 4

The output’s order was odd, but there are reasons. The main concept is “buffering”. printf() will buffer the strings you want to print. It does not sent the strings to the device, say stdout, immediately. Because printf() is a library call not a system call. If you use write() system call instead, the string “hello world\n” will not be buffered. The string will be sent to the device as soon as possible.

The buffer will be flushed when:

• The buffer is full
• flush() is called (maybe fflush() ?)
• exit() is called

Even though the key concept is buffering, there are still some tiny rules affect the facts. For example, when console output is used, output to device will be done in no time with the following two cases:

• Linefeed, i.e. “\n”
• The program attempts to read from the terminal (?)

Reminder: Do not use printf() for heavy interaction

_Exit() is more brutal than exit(). If you try to redirect the output into a file, the strings stored in the buffer will not be shown. _Exit() terminate the process in no time, and it will not sent the strings which are still in the buffer to the output.