getpid

NAME

getpid, getppid — get parent or calling process identification

LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

#include <unistd.h> pid_t
getpid(void); pid_t
getppid(void);

DESCRIPTION

The getpid() system call returns the process ID of the calling process. Though the ID is guaranteed to be unique, it should NOT be used for constructing temporary file names, for security reasons; see mkstemp(3) instead. The getppid() system call returns the process ID of the parent of the calling process.

ERRORS

The getpid() and getppid() system calls are always successful, and no return value is reserved to indicate an error.

SEE ALSO

fork(2), getpgrp(2), kill(2), setpgid(2), setsid(2), exec(3)

STANDARDS

The getpid() and getppid() system calls are expected to conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-1990 (“POSIX.1”).

HISTORY

The getpid() function appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.