SLEEP(3)

NAME
sleep - suspend process execution for an interval measured in seconds

LIBRARY
libc

SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h>
unsigned int
sleep(unsigned int seconds);

DESCRIPTION
The sleep() function suspends execution of the calling process until either seconds seconds have elapsed or a signal is delivered to the process and its action is to invoke a signal-catching function or to terminate the process. System activity may lengthen the sleep by an indeterminate amount.

This function is implemented using nanosleep(2) by pausing for seconds seconds or until a signal occurs. Consequently, in this implementation, sleeping has no effect on the state of process timers, and there is no special handling for SIGALRM.

RETURN VALUES
If the sleep() function returns because the requested time has elapsed, the value returned will be zero. If the sleep() function returns due to the delivery of a signal, the value returned will be the unslept amount (the requested time minus the time actually slept) in seconds.

SEE ALSO
nanosleep(2), usleep(3)

STANDARDS
The sleep() function conforms to p1003.1-90.

HISTORY
A sleep() function appeared in AT&T UNIX.