Can I stop(pause) pthread execution using pthread_kill

Question

Will a thread stop if I send it SIGTSTP signal? Or in other words will it behave like process on SIGTSTP and SIGCONT?

Thanks in advance.

Remington

Answer 1

From `man 3p pthread_kill:

Note that pthread_kill() only causes the signal to be handled in the context of the given thread; the signal action (termination or stopping) affects the process as a whole.

So I'd say that you will stop the whole process, not just the thread.

Revisal

okay, thats possible, since I cant find sigaction for pthreads. I'll do the test. – Remington

read man 3p pthread_kill myself, it is obvious that I cant use pthread_kill to stop thread execution, its mainly for redirecting received signal. – Remington

@Revisal I think you miss-interprited the doc here. I disagree. It will affect only the servant threads created by the main thread of the process. When it says it will affect the process , it is saying that the resource would be re-adjusted to the remaining threads in that process. – Marceau

@JayD - I disaggree with your disagreement. The doc makes a distintion between the signal handling and the signal action. The handling, that is, the function called as a response of the signal, if any, is done by the thread; but the action, that is, terminate, coredump, stop or continue, is done by the process as a whole. (I don't see a thread coredumping, for example, while the rest of the process goes on). – Revisal

I didn't do the test, but it feels like this is correct answer. Latter I might do the test. – Remington