man pages section 3: Basic Library Functions

Exit Print View

Updated: July 2014
 
 

sigfpe(3C)

Name

sigfpe - signal handling for specific SIGFPE codes

Synopsis

#include <floatingpoint.h>
#include <siginfo.h>

sigfpe_handler_type sigfpe(sigfpe_code_type code,
     sigfpe_handler_type hdl);

Description

The sigfpe() function allows signal handling to be specified for particular SIGFPE codes. A call to sigfpe() defines a new handler hdl for a particular SIGFPE code and returns the old handler as the value of the function sigfpe(). Normally handlers are specified as pointers to functions; the special cases SIGFPE_IGNORE, SIGFPE_ABORT, and SIGFPE_DEFAULT allow ignoring, dumping core using abort(3C), or default handling respectively. Default handling is to dump core using abort(3C).

The code argument is usually one of the five IEEE 754-related SIGFPE codes:

FPE_FLTRES   fp_inexact − floating-point inexact result
FPE_FLTDIV   fp_division − floating-point division by zero        
FPE_FLTUND   fp_underflow − floating-point underflow
FPE_FLTOVF   fp_overflow − floating-point overflow
FPE_FLTINV   fp_invalid − floating-point invalid operation

Three steps are required to intercept an IEEE 754-related SIGFPE code with sigfpe():

  1. Set up a handler with sigfpe().

  2. Enable the relevant IEEE 754 trapping capability in the hardware, perhaps by using assembly-language instructions.

  3. Perform a floating-point operation that generates the intended IEEE 754 exception.

The sigfpe() function never changes floating-point hardware mode bits affecting IEEE 754 trapping. No IEEE 754-related SIGFPE signals will be generated unless those hardware mode bits are enabled.

SIGFPE signals can be handled using sigfpe(), sigaction(2) or signal(3C). In a particular program, to avoid confusion, use only one of these interfaces to handle SIGFPE signals.

Examples

Example 1 Example Of A User-Specified Signal Handler

A user-specified signal handler might look like this:

#include <floatingpoint.h>
#include <siginfo.h>
#include <ucontext.h>
/*
* The sample_handler prints out a message then commits suicide.
*/
void
sample_handler(int sig, siginfo_t *sip, ucontext_t *uap) {
	char *label;
        switch (sip−>si_code) {
	case FPE_FLTINV: label = "invalid operand"; break;
	case FPE_FLTRES: label = "inexact"; break;
	case FPE_FLTDIV: label = "division-by-zero"; break;
	case FPE_FLTUND: label = "underflow"; break;
	case FPE_FLTOVF: label = "overflow"; break;
	default: label = "???"; break;
	}
	fprintf(stderr, 
        "FP exception %s (0x%x) occurred at address %p.\n",
        label, sip−>si_code, (void *) sip−>si_addr);
	abort();
}

and it might be set up like this:

#include <floatingpoint.h>
#include <siginfo.h>
#include <ucontext.h>
extern void sample_handler(int, siginfo_t *, ucontext_t *);
main(void) {
      sigfpe_handler_type hdl, old_handler1, old_handler2;
/*
 * save current fp_overflow and fp_invalid handlers; set the new
* fp_overflow handler to sample_handler( ) and set the new
* fp_invalid handler to SIGFPE_ABORT (abort on invalid)
*/
    hdl = (sigfpe_handler_type) sample_handler;
    old_handler1 = sigfpe(FPE_FLTOVF, hdl);
    old_handler2 = sigfpe(FPE_FLTINV, SIGFPE_ABORT);
    . . .
/*
 * restore old fp_overflow and fp_invalid handlers
 */
     sigfpe(FPE_FLTOVF, old_handler1);
     sigfpe(FPE_FLTINV, old_handler2);
}

Files

/usr/include/floatingpoint.h

/usr/include/siginfo.h

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE
ATTRIBUTE VALUE
MT-Level
Safe

See also

sigaction(2), abort(3C), signal(3C), attributes(5), floatingpoint.h(3HEAD)

Diagnostics

The sigfpe() function returns (void(*)())-1 if code is not zero or a defined SIGFPE code.