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EXIT(3) FreeBSD Library Functions Manual EXIT(3)
NAME
exit, _Exit - perform normal program termination
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
void
exit(int status);
void
_Exit(int status);
DESCRIPTION
The exit() and _Exit() functions terminate a process.
Before termination, exit() performs the following functions in the order
listed:
1. Call all functions registered with the __cxa_atexit(3)
function (which are typically destructors from the loaded
dynamic objects), and the functions registered with the
atexit(3) function, in the reverse order of their
registration.
2. Flush all open output streams.
3. Close all open streams.
The _Exit() function terminates without calling the functions registered
with the atexit(3) function, and may or may not perform the other actions
listed. The FreeBSD implementation of the _Exit() function does not call
destructors registered with __cxa_atexit(3,) does not flush buffers, and
does not close streams.
Both functions make the low-order eight bits of the status argument
available to a parent process which has called a wait(2)-family function.
The C Standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999 ("ISO C99")) defines the values 0,
EXIT_SUCCESS, and EXIT_FAILURE as possible values of status. Cooperating
processes may use other values; in a program which might be called by a
mail transfer agent, the values described in sysexits(3) may be used to
provide more information to the parent process.
The complete status value is avaliable as si_status member of the
siginfo_t structure, to the wait6(2) and sigwaitinfo(2) callers, and
SIGCHLD signal handlers.
Calls to the exit() function are serialized. All functions registered by
atexit(3) are executed in the first thread that called exit. If any
other thread of the process calls exit before all registered functions
have completed or before the process terminates, the thread is blocked
until the process terminates. The exit status of the process is the
status argument of the first exit call which thread proceeds the atexit
handlers.
The exit() and _Exit() functions never return.
SEE ALSO
_exit(2), abort2(2), wait(2), at_quick_exit(3), atexit(3), intro(3),
quick_exit(3), sysexits(3), tmpfile(3)
STANDARDS
The exit() and _Exit() functions conform to ISO/IEC 9899:1999
("ISO C99").
HISTORY
The exit() function appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE July 24, 2024 FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE