How to use the command 'signal' (with examples)

The signal command in Mac OS provides simplified software signal facilities. Signals are used to communicate events or conditions to a program, allowing for flexible and dynamic execution.

Use case 1: View documentation about signals in Mac OS

Code:

man signal

Motivation: Viewing the documentation about signals in Mac OS helps developers understand how signals work and how they can be used in their own programs. It provides detailed information about signal handling, signal types, and the signal API.

Explanation:

• man: The man command is used to display the manual page for a given command or topic.
• signal: The argument to man specifies the topic or command for which the manual page should be displayed.

Example output:

SIGNAL(7)                    macOS Programmer's Manual                    SIGNAL(7)

NAME
     signal -- ANSI C signal handling

DESCRIPTION
     POSIX.1 specifies a set of signals (SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGILL, SIGTRAP, SIGABRT, SIGEMT, SIGFPE, SIGKILL,
     SIGBUS, SIGSEGV, SIGSYS, SIGPIPE, SIGALRM, SIGTERM, SIGURG, SIGSTOP, SIGTSTP, SIGCONT, SIGCHLD, SIGTTIN,
     SIGTTOU, SIGIO, SIGXCPU, SIGXFSZ, SIGVTALRM, SIGPROF, SIGWINCH, SIGINFO, SIGUSR1, and SIGUSR2) and
     semantics for signal handling in concurrent POSIX threads.

Conclusion:

The signal command in Mac OS provides a simple way to view documentation about signals, enabling developers to learn about signal handling and how they can be used in their programs. The man signal command displays the manual page for signals, providing detailed information about signal types and how to handle them in code. This knowledge is essential for understanding and implementing signal-based functionality in Mac OS applications.