Guardian Procedure Calls Reference Manual

Syntax for TAL Programmers
CALL STEPMOM ( process-id ); ! i
Parameters
process-id
input
INT:ref:4
is a four-word array containing the process ID of an already executing process, for which the
calling process wants to receive the process deletion message.
The process ID is a four-word array, where:
Process name or creation timestamp[0:2]
Reserved.<0:3>[3]
Processor number where the process is executing.<4:7>
PIN assigned by the operating system to identify the process in the processor.<8:15>
Condition Code Settings
indicates that STEPMOM failed, or that no process designated process-id exists.< (CCL)
indicates that the caller is now the creator (mom) of process-id.= (CCE)
is not returned from STEPMOM.> (CCG)
Considerations
• Process access ID and the caller of STEPMOM
If STEPMOM is called from a Guardian process, the caller must either have the same process
access ID as the process it is attempting to adopt, be the group manager of the process access
ID, or be the super ID. For a description of the process access ID, see the PROCESSACCESSID
procedure Considerations (page 1131) and the Guardian User's Guide.
• OSS security
If STEPMOM is called from an OSS process, the security rules that apply to calling STEPMOM
are the same as those that apply to calling the OSS kill() function. For details, see the
kill(2) reference page either online or in the Open System Services System Calls Reference
Manual.
• Why STEPMOM should not be called for a process pair
A process should not call STEPMOM for either member of a process pair. Adoption of a
process pair by a third process causes errors and interferes with operation, because the
operation depends upon each member of the process pair being the mom of the other.
• Adopting a single named process is not recommended
If a single named process is adopted, the caller becomes both the mom and the ancestor and
will receive two process termination messages when the process dies.
• STEPMOM and high-PIN processes
You cannot use STEPMOM to adopt a high-PIN process because a high PIN cannot fit into
process-id.
1396 Guardian Procedure Calls (S)