Question

fork question

Asked by: BrianGEFF719

I just had a question about fork. Suppose I do:

int i = 0; int *x = &i;
pid_t p;
p = fork();
if(p == 0)
{
 (*x)++;
 exit(1);
}
else if (p > 0)
{
 wait(p);
}
printf("x = %d\n", *x);


My problem is that although a copy of the stack is made, shouldn't the value of x remain the same as a pointer to the original i? Because it appears after the fork that x has a different in the client than in the parent..why is this?

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Asked On
2009-10-10 at 03:22:34ID24801381
Topic

C Programming Language

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
6

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Answers

 

by: BrianGEFF719Posted on 2009-10-10 at 03:23:54ID: 25541691

Does this make sense? What i'm trying to say is that if you have any integer in the parent the child will have the same value, but it seems that this isn't the case with pointers.

 

by: BrianGEFF719Posted on 2009-10-10 at 03:26:35ID: 25541705

But it seems to behave as intended if I change it to:
 volatile int *i = &x;

 

by: evilrixPosted on 2009-10-10 at 03:43:33ID: 25541737

The compiler is probably caching the value it thinks X is pointed to because it doesn't know it's being changed in another process. Telling it to make it volatile prevents the caching so it will re-read the value each time you access it and, thus, see the changes.

 

by: Let_Me_BePosted on 2009-10-10 at 13:41:51ID: 25543728

Pointer values are logical addresses, not physical. After fork all pointer values are kept the same, but the physical values are changed.

 

by: mrjoltcolaPosted on 2009-10-12 at 09:21:31ID: 25552512

There should be no inter-process interference here. fork() makes a complete copy of the process image. The only reason for the any value change is the parent line:

  (*x)++;

This will not affect the child.

Perhaps I am missing something, but I think perhaps you are confusing threading semantics with fork. There is no shared data here.

 

by: mrjoltcolaPosted on 2009-10-12 at 09:23:54ID: 25552532

>>shouldn't the value of x remain the same as a pointer to the original i?

Yes, but "original i" doesn't mean a shared i. fork() creates a parallel universe, so to speak. The parent and child are each in their own, and can communicate only via shared memory or IPC. They do not share heap memory.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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