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docs: add race warning to `child_process.kill()`

v0.7.4-release
Ben Noordhuis 14 years ago
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commit
88f416a5ed
  1. 21
      doc/api/child_processes.markdown

21
doc/api/child_processes.markdown

@ -234,7 +234,24 @@ be sent `'SIGTERM'`. See `signal(7)` for a list of available signals.
// send SIGHUP to process
grep.kill('SIGHUP');
Note that while the function is called `kill`, the signal delivered to the child
process may not actually kill it. `kill` really just sends a signal to a process.
Note that while the function is called `kill`, the signal delivered to the
child process may not actually kill it. `kill` really just sends a signal
to a process.
Please note that the example contains a potential race condition on
(at least) UNIX systems. Here is why:
The canonical approach to starting a child process is to call `fork()` to
create a copy of the current process, followed by a call to `execve()` to
replace the copy with the actual child process. This runs in tandem with
the parent process.
The time between `fork()` and `execve()` is short but it's not zero.
The child process may not have actually started when `spawn()` returns.
Thus, if you send a signal immediately after the call to `spawn()`, it may
end up being delivered to the copy of the current process and *not* the
actual child process.
The resulting behavior is undefined. It likely won't do what you want it to.
See `kill(2)`

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