Re^2: Using forks and threads

Thanks for the reply. The reason I want to fork is because one thread needs to call system() (or pretend to by fork()ing and exec()ing itself).

I'm expecting that calling system() from a thread would work fine most of the time, since the fork would duplicate all threads, etc, as expected, but would then exec() instantly after the fork. However, if this isn't atomic (eg: if the process received an interrupt just before exec()ing), one of the other threads might continue in the new fork before exec()ing, which certainly isn't what I'd want.

Comment on Re^2: Using forks and threads

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Re^3: Using forks and threads by kwaping (Priest) on Jul 20, 2006 at 15:39 UTC
Are you expecting this faux-system() call to take a long time? Do you care what it returns? --- It's all fine and dandy until someone has to look at the code.	[reply]
Re^4: Using forks and threads by ColinHorne (Sexton) on Jul 21, 2006 at 13:20 UTC
Potentially yes to both - it could well take a long time, and I'd like to check the error code, just in case. Although - would this make a difference? I'm guessing it's not a question of how long the child will run after the exec(), but how long after the fork() it takes to exec(), and if a different thread gets a chance to run (that is, assuming that forking on a unix-like system duplicates threads).	[reply]