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PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface
may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface
may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
clock_nanosleep — high resolution sleep with specifiable clock
SYNOPSIS
#include <time.h>
int clock_nanosleep(clockid_t clock_id, int flags,
const struct timespec *rqtp, struct timespec *rmtp);
DESCRIPTION
If the flag TIMER_ABSTIME is not set in the flags argument, the clock_nanosleep() function shall cause
the current thread to be suspended from execution until either the time interval specified by the rqtp
argument has elapsed, or a signal is delivered to the calling thread and its action is to invoke a
signal-catching function, or the process is terminated. The clock used to measure the time shall be the
clock specified by clock_id.
If the flag TIMER_ABSTIME is set in the flags argument, the clock_nanosleep() function shall cause the
current thread to be suspended from execution until either the time value of the clock specified by
clock_id reaches the absolute time specified by the rqtp argument, or a signal is delivered to the
calling thread and its action is to invoke a signal-catching function, or the process is terminated. If,
at the time of the call, the time value specified by rqtp is less than or equal to the time value of the
specified clock, then clock_nanosleep() shall return immediately and the calling process shall not be
suspended.
The suspension time caused by this function may be longer than requested because the argument value is
rounded up to an integer multiple of the sleep resolution, or because of the scheduling of other activity
by the system. But, except for the case of being interrupted by a signal, the suspension time for the
relative clock_nanosleep() function (that is, with the TIMER_ABSTIME flag not set) shall not be less than
the time interval specified by rqtp, as measured by the corresponding clock. The suspension for the
absolute clock_nanosleep() function (that is, with the TIMER_ABSTIME flag set) shall be in effect at
least until the value of the corresponding clock reaches the absolute time specified by rqtp, except for
the case of being interrupted by a signal.
The use of the clock_nanosleep() function shall have no effect on the action or blockage of any signal.
The clock_nanosleep() function shall fail if the clock_id argument refers to the CPU-time clock of the
calling thread. It is unspecified whether clock_id values of other CPU-time clocks are allowed.
RETURN VALUE
If the clock_nanosleep() function returns because the requested time has elapsed, its return value shall
be zero.
If the clock_nanosleep() function returns because it has been interrupted by a signal, it shall return
the corresponding error value. For the relative clock_nanosleep() function, if the rmtp argument is non-
NULL, the timespec structure referenced by it shall be updated to contain the amount of time remaining in
the interval (the requested time minus the time actually slept). The rqtp and rmtp arguments can point to
the same object. If the rmtp argument is NULL, the remaining time is not returned. The absolute
clock_nanosleep() function has no effect on the structure referenced by rmtp.
If clock_nanosleep() fails, it shall return the corresponding error value.
ERRORS
The clock_nanosleep() function shall fail if:
EINTR The clock_nanosleep() function was interrupted by a signal.
EINVAL The rqtp argument specified a nanosecond value less than zero or greater than or equal to 1000
million; or the TIMER_ABSTIME flag was specified in flags and the rqtp argument is outside the
range for the clock specified by clock_id; or the clock_id argument does not specify a known
clock, or specifies the CPU-time clock of the calling thread.
ENOTSUP
The clock_id argument specifies a clock for which clock_nanosleep() is not supported, such as a
CPU-time clock.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
None.
APPLICATION USAGE
Calling clock_nanosleep() with the value TIMER_ABSTIME not set in the flags argument and with a clock_id
of CLOCK_REALTIME is equivalent to calling nanosleep() with the same rqtp and rmtp arguments.
RATIONALE
The nanosleep() function specifies that the system-wide clock CLOCK_REALTIME is used to measure the
elapsed time for this time service. However, with the introduction of the monotonic clock CLOCK_MONOTONIC
a new relative sleep function is needed to allow an application to take advantage of the special
characteristics of this clock.
There are many applications in which a process needs to be suspended and then activated multiple times in
a periodic way; for example, to poll the status of a non-interrupting device or to refresh a display
device. For these cases, it is known that precise periodic activation cannot be achieved with a relative
sleep() or nanosleep() function call. Suppose, for example, a periodic process that is activated at time
T0, executes for a while, and then wants to suspend itself until time T0+T, the period being T. If this
process wants to use the nanosleep() function, it must first call clock_gettime() to get the current
time, then calculate the difference between the current time and T0+T and, finally, call nanosleep()
using the computed interval. However, the process could be preempted by a different process between the
two function calls, and in this case the interval computed would be wrong; the process would wake up
later than desired. This problem would not occur with the absolute clock_nanosleep() function, since only
one function call would be necessary to suspend the process until the desired time. In other cases,
however, a relative sleep is needed, and that is why both functionalities are required.
Although it is possible to implement periodic processes using the timers interface, this implementation
would require the use of signals, and the reservation of some signal numbers. In this regard, the reasons
for including an absolute version of the clock_nanosleep() function in POSIX.1‐2008 are the same as for
the inclusion of the relative nanosleep().
It is also possible to implement precise periodic processes using pthread_cond_timedwait(), in which an
absolute timeout is specified that takes effect if the condition variable involved is never signaled.
However, the use of this interface is unnatural, and involves performing other operations on mutexes and
condition variables that imply an unnecessary overhead. Furthermore, pthread_cond_timedwait() is not
available in implementations that do not support threads.
Although the interface of the relative and absolute versions of the new high resolution sleep service is
the same clock_nanosleep() function, the rmtp argument is only used in the relative sleep. This argument
is needed in the relative clock_nanosleep() function to reissue the function call if it is interrupted by
a signal, but it is not needed in the absolute clock_nanosleep() function call; if the call is
interrupted by a signal, the absolute clock_nanosleep() function can be invoked again with the same rqtp
argument used in the interrupted call.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
clock_getres(), nanosleep(), pthread_cond_timedwait(), sleep()
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <time.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard
for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original
IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document.
The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced
during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2017 CLOCK_NANOSLEEP(3POSIX)