#include <sys/timerfd.h>
int timerfd_create(int clockid, int flags);
int timerfd_settime(int fd, int flags,
const struct itimerspec *new_value,
struct itimerspec *old_value);
int timerfd_gettime(int fd, struct itimerspec *curr_value);
The use of these three system calls is analogous to the use of timer_create(2), timer_settime(2), and timer_gettime(2). (There is no analog of timer_getoverrun(2), since that functionality is provided by read(2), as described below.)
Starting with Linux 2.6.27, the following values may be bitwise ORed in flags to change the behavior of timerfd_create():
In Linux versions up to and including 2.6.26, flags must be specified as zero.
The new_value argument specifies the initial expiration and interval for the timer. The itimer structure used for this argument contains two fields, each of which is in turn a structure of type timespec:
struct timespec {
time_t tv_sec; /* Seconds */
long tv_nsec; /* Nanoseconds */
};
struct itimerspec {
struct timespec it_interval; /* Interval for periodic timer */
struct timespec it_value; /* Initial expiration */
};
new_value.it_value specifies the initial expiration of the timer, in seconds and nanoseconds. Setting either field of new_value.it_value to a non-zero value arms the timer. Setting both fields of new_value.it_value to zero disarms the timer.
Setting one or both fields of new_value.it_interval to non-zero values specifies the period, in seconds and nanoseconds, for repeated timer expirations after the initial expiration. If both fields of new_value.it_interval are zero, the timer expires just once, at the time specified by new_value.it_value.
The flags argument is either 0, to start a relative timer (new_value.it_interval specifies a time relative to the current value of the clock specified by clockid), or TFD_TIMER_ABSTIME, to start an absolute timer (new_value.it_value specifies an absolute time for the clock specified by clockid; that is, the timer will expire when the value of that clock reaches the value specified in new_value.it_value).
The old_value argument returns a structure containing the setting of the timer that was current at the time of the call; see the description of timerfd_gettime() following.
The it_value field returns the amount of time until the timer will next expire. If both fields of this structure are zero, then the timer is currently disarmed. This field always contains a relative value, regardless of whether the TFD_TIMER_ABSTIME flag was specified when setting the timer.
The it_interval field returns the interval of the timer. If both fields of this structure are zero, then the timer is set to expire just once, at the time specified by curr_value.it_value.
timerfd_settime() and timerfd_gettime() return 0 on success; on error they return -1, and set errno to indicate the error.
timerfd_settime() and timerfd_gettime() can fail with the following errors:
timerfd_settime() can also fail with the following errors:
The following shell session demonstrates the use of the program:
$ a.out 3 1 100 0.000: timer started 3.000: read: 1; total=1 4.000: read: 1; total=2 ^Z # type control-Z to suspend the program [1]+ Stopped ./timerfd3_demo 3 1 100 $ fg # Resume execution after a few seconds a.out 3 1 100 9.660: read: 5; total=7 10.000: read: 1; total=8 11.000: read: 1; total=9 ^C # type control-C to suspend the program
#include <sys/timerfd.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h> /* Definition of uint64_t */
#define handle_error(msg) \
do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } while (0)
static void
print_elapsed_time(void)
{
static struct timespec start;
struct timespec curr;
static int first_call = 1;
int secs, nsecs;
if (first_call) {
first_call = 0;
if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &start) == -1)
handle_error("clock_gettime");
}
if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &curr) == -1)
handle_error("clock_gettime");
secs = curr.tv_sec - start.tv_sec;
nsecs = curr.tv_nsec - start.tv_nsec;
if (nsecs < 0) {
secs--;
nsecs += 1000000000;
}
printf("%d.%03d: ", secs, (nsecs + 500000) / 1000000);
}
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
struct itimerspec new_value;
int max_exp, fd;
struct timespec now;
uint64_t exp, tot_exp;
ssize_t s;
if ((argc != 2) && (argc != 4)) {
fprintf(stderr, "%s init-secs [interval-secs max-exp]\n",
argv[0]);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now) == -1)
handle_error("clock_gettime");
/* Create a CLOCK_REALTIME absolute timer with initial
expiration and interval as specified in command line */
new_value.it_value.tv_sec = now.tv_sec + atoi(argv[1]);
new_value.it_value.tv_nsec = now.tv_nsec;
if (argc == 2) {
new_value.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
max_exp = 1;
} else {
new_value.it_interval.tv_sec = atoi(argv[2]);
max_exp = atoi(argv[3]);
}
new_value.it_interval.tv_nsec = 0;
fd = timerfd_create(CLOCK_REALTIME, 0);
if (fd == -1)
handle_error("timerfd_create");
if (timerfd_settime(fd, TFD_TIMER_ABSTIME, &new_value, NULL) == -1)
handle_error("timerfd_settime");
print_elapsed_time();
printf("timer started\n");
for (tot_exp = 0; tot_exp < max_exp;) {
s = read(fd, &exp, sizeof(uint64_t));
if (s != sizeof(uint64_t))
handle_error("read");
tot_exp += exp;
print_elapsed_time();
printf("read: %llu; total=%llu\n",
(unsigned long long) exp,
(unsigned long long) tot_exp);
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}