4BSD/usr/man/cat2/alarm.2
ALARM(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual ALARM(2)
NAME
alarm - schedule signal after specified time
SYNOPSIS
alarm(seconds)
unsigned seconds;
DESCRIPTION
_A_l_a_r_m causes signal SIGALRM, see _s_i_g_n_a_l(2), to be sent to
the invoking process in a number of seconds given by the
argument. Unless caught or ignored, the signal terminates
the process.
Alarm requests are not stacked; successive calls reset the
alarm clock. If the argument is 0, any alarm request is
canceled. Because the clock has a 1-second resolution, the
signal may occur up to one second early; because of schedul-
ing delays, resumption of execution of when the signal is
caught may be delayed an arbitrary amount. The longest
specifiable delay time is 2147483647 seconds.
The return value is the amount of time previously remaining
in the alarm clock.
SEE ALSO
pause(2), signal(2), sigsys(2), sigset(3), sleep(3)
ASSEMBLER (PDP-11)
(alarm = 27.)
(seconds in r0)
sys alarm
(previous amount in r0)
Printed 11/10/80 1